French FM: Illegal migration intolerable

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Friday that his country will not tolerate the wave of African migrants that continue to risk their lives to enter Europe illegally.

"Even though I understand the reason for this illegal immigration, I don't approve it," Kouchner told reporters in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Kouchner was in the West African nation to attend the swearing-in of the Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure for a second term.

"Returns must be expected. ... France cannot accept all the world's poor," he said.

Many of the migrants who set out on dangerous sea journeys toward Europe come from West Africa. The European Union has stepped up patrols off the coast of Africa to try to keep people from embarking on the dangerous trips in overcrowded boats. Many thousands attempt the crossings each year, and hundreds die along the way.

Kouchner said immigrants already living in France should be treated fairly and not be stigmatized for their origins. He said the solution should be found in regulation, but did not provide details.

Many people in France's former African colonies are watching the new administration of French President Nicholas Sarkozy closely, particularly for clues on its approach to migration and work visas.

On Sunday, France said it would bury the bodies of 18 people who apparently drowned in the Mediterranean Sea and were believed to be migrants. The bodies were found about 110 miles off the coast of Malta on Friday. They were found between Malta and Libya but it was not clear where the victims began their journey.

Brice Hortefeux, France's new minister of immigration, integration and national identity, has condemned those who profit from illegal immigration by selling migrants places on "uncertain vessels" that risk never reaching their destination.

Kouchner, a longtime humanitarian activist who co-founded the aid group Doctors Without Borders, also plans visits to Chad and Sudan during his tour of Africa.