Warning 30,000 migrants may reach EU

Up to 30,000 African migrants are determined to reach the European Union through Spain, a senior EU official warned.

The figure, based on reports by European intelligence agencies, dwarfs the crowds of desperate migrants already seen storming Spain's two North African enclaves bordering Morocco.

EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini launched a radical scheme under which the EU will pay African governments to offer better treatment to would-be refugees, in the hope that fewer refugees will try to reach Europe.

Several African migrants have been shot in recent attempts and Morocco has been accused of dumping those who fail to get across in the desert.