He said: "We need to do much more to smash the criminal gangs that are fuelling this terrible trade in people and also to break the link between getting on a boat and the chance to settle in Europe.  "If we do those two things, alongside the saving lives and the vital humanitarian work - then we can make real progress."  The Prime Minister said it was "the biggest problem facing Europe today", with a movement of people greater than any seen since the end of the Second World War.  A young Syrian migrant infant cries while being carried by his mother as they wait next to railroad tracks where migrants cross into Macedonia Photo: Getty Images  A Number 10 source said: "We are sat in the western Mediterranean which was the focus at the start of the crisis but in recent months the focus has been on the eastern and the route from Turkey to Greece where you see a lot more of the numbers of Syrian refugees as opposed to the route where we are sat today, which is more illegal migration.  "We remain really concerned about that route and the support that we should be providing to countries in the region."  The money could be used to fund new refugee camps and provisions for those left homeless by the conflict in Syria.  The funding could also be used to tackle the "small-scale industry" selling rafts to desperate migrants trying to leave Turkey for Europe.  Refugees, who have been stuck for days in the port of Lesbos island protest. The government has chartered two ferries to transport them but with thousands of new arrivals each day, they have not been enough Photo: EPA  The Number 10 source said: "It is us looking at how we focus our spending on humanitarian assistance, but also dealing with an issue that has repercussions for us in Britain.  "So we are investing our aid money upstream and overseas to better manage the problem arriving at our shores."  As well as the extra funding for African nations, the Government will also urge them to do more to accept the return of migrants who have tried to enter the European Union illegally.
The Prime Minister is calling on European countries to step up efforts to   "smash" the criminal gangs of human traffickers exploiting the migrant crisis