EU opens 'job centre' in Africa

EU opens 'job centre' in Africa

Many young Africans risk death to reach Europe

The European Union has opened its first immigration centre outside Europe, in Mali's capital, Bamako.

Thousands of young West Africans try to make it into Europe illegally each year and many die on the way.

The EU hopes the new centre will help people find legal work in Europe and cut down on illegal migration.

The new centre will offer guidance on legal migration and help with job training and the search for work abroad, the European Commission says.

It will also raise awareness about the dangers of illegal migration.

The BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says young Malians desperate for work would have hoped this new centre would be a recruitment agency, but at this point the EU is stressing that no specific job vacancies will be on offer.

In the future, however, European countries may recruit via the Bamako office.

Spain is already doing this in Senegal by offering seasonal contracts picking fruit or working in hotels to several hundred people each year, with demand so high it is in effect a job lottery.
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