Merkel wants to roll out controversial Turkey migrant deal with NORTH AFRICA

One year after Angela Merkel opened her arms to more than one million migrants, the beleaguered leader believes a North African deal could save thousands of people from making the perilous journey across choppy waters in the Med.

She said: “We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes.

“It is safer for them and there are good reasons for them to remain in Turkey, close to their homeland, where the cultural and language barriers are lower.”

While the number of migrants arriving in Greece and Turkey has decreased from last year, Italy is already seeing a huge increase.

More than 25,000 migrants arrived at Italy’s borders in July alone, worrying ministers who fear the creation of a ‘new Calais’.

And this week Reiner Klingholz head of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, warned there was a “tinderbox at the gates of Europe”, with huge numbers of migrants preparing to travel from a large swathe of land stretching from West Africa to West Asia.

But the deal has stalled amid concerns over Turkey’s democratic and financial stability, following the attempted coup and President Tayyip Erdogan’s merciless response which saw more than more than 45,000 military officials, police officers, judges, governors and civil servants either fired, detained or suspended.

Nevertheless, Ms Merkel said the agreement was “correct” and the EU should continue to work with Turkey on finding a solution.