The pittance of E2 million given to countries that have to face the problem of irregular immigration by the EU is a bad joke, singer, musician and philanthropist Bob Geldof said yesterday.

Speaking at a business breakfast at the Radison Golden Sands in Ghajn Tuffieha, Mr Geldof said that the world has to tackle the African problem as after centuries of exploitation, “this continent is coming back to haunt us”.

The singer had laudable words on Malta’s YMCA project that shelters homeless people, stating that the problems of asylum seekers and those who have to sleep rough are actually interlinked.

“Immigration is a critical problem that will continue to face Europe and rest assured that it won’t go away. Unfortunately, the EU showed it is not serious about immigration as it has left small countries who are at the root of the problem like Malta in the lurch with a pathetic grant of a couple of million euros. That’s just about half an hour’s fuel consumption for a destroyer,” he said.

Mr Geldof said that North European countries were remaining aloof on the problem and it was clear that Malta could not take such large numbers of immigrants.

He also blasted the rich G7 countries for only agreeing to give US$ 1.2 billion in aid annually to Africa “which is as much Bill Gates earns in half an hour”.

The singer said that if Africa’s problems were not going to be tackled by the richer countries then “wave upon wave of immigrants will converge on Europe”.

He said that this could also be seen as labour potential, with European populations going into steep decline due to flat demographic growth and dropping birth rates.

Mr Geldof was upbeat about the concert, that was held last night, describing it as a great event in which he would be able to “leave something behind” for the Maltese whom he said were a hard working and diligent people that he very much admired.

Speaking on corporate social responsibility, Mr Geldof said that he was somewhat wary of that concept but showed his appreciation for the global giant Vodafone which sponsored his Live Aid concert project and which created a win-win situation for all involved.

The business breakfast was also addressed by HSBC chief executive officer Shaun Wallis and Vodafone Malta CEO Hatem Dowidar, who said that they were enthusiastically supporting Bob Geldof and the YMCA in their quest to raise funds for homeless persons in Malta.

The concert was held at the Manoel Island Parade Ground. The concert’s proceeds went to the YMCA Homeless Shelter Project.