Bill Gates: US Should Set 'Better Example,' Take More Refugees

The United States should set "better example" to the world and take in more refugees, Microsoft founder Bill Gates says.

Gates told the BBC that the nation has "the capacity" to follow such countries as Germany and Sweden, who are "to be congratulated" for welcoming refugees with opens arms.

The billionaire philanthropist, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, said he realizes that loosening immigration laws is "not easy" and that governments have to with "tight budgets." But he said he believes the issue is mostly political.

"The total number of refugees is not a world record," said Gates, who heads The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable group in the world. The foundation has an endowment of more than $40 billion.

At last year's World Economic Forum, Gates said two new tools to fight AIDS should be available by 2030 in the form of a vaccine and new intense drug treatments, ending most cases of a disease that has killed millions in the past 30 years.

Related Stories:

• Bill Gates: Clean, Reliable Energy Vital to World's Population
• Bill Gates Calls for 'Germ Games' to Prepare for Global Epidemic