The European Parliament's Committee on Budgets will certainly pay attention to Malta's need for funds regarding irregular migration but it did not promise anything other than help as far as it could, said visiting vice-chairman Ralf Walter.

Mr Walter was replying to the strong case presented in Malta by Ministers Tonio Borg and Dolores Cristina about Malta's need for assistance in this field.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Borg told the committee that this year's inbound irregular migration was on a slightly lower level than last year. He acknowledged that the EU has been funding certain aspects of migration, although it took some time for the commission to fully understand the situation faced by the Maltese.

He said there was nowhere else in the world as badly hit by the human tragedy of migration with conservative estimates showing that 600 would-be migrants drowned every year "on the doorstep of Europe".

He added that unlike the Canaries and the Pelagic Islands, Malta was an island state and migrants landing here could not be transferred to camps on the mainland. This highlighted the difficulties the country was facing, said the minister, who appealed to the committee against one-size-fits-all schemes.

Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina told the committee, two members of which are Maltese MEPs – Simon Busuttil and Louis Grech – that since taking up her portfolio in 2004, the number of irregular migrants taken care of by the state had gone up from less than 100 to over 2,000. She informed the committee that there were currently nine open centres on the island, one of which was a tent village housing almost 1,000 migrants. Minister Cristina said she disapproved of tent villages, however the country could not afford otherwise.

She called for more help to be given on a personal basis, however, she added, this meant more social care and psychologists; both of whom were in short supply, "and all these need funding."

The minister also pointed out that the ministry used the European Social Fund grants to open a home for unaccompanied minors and another one for families.

"My country is helping out, but it is also in need of help," she said.

Mr Walter said migration was not a problem that pertained exclusively to Malta. It was quite widespread. He recalled the days when in the 90s, his home country, Germany, took 700,000 migrants. Mr Walter spoke about the EP's opinion that migration should be tackled at source; that is by helping the countries of origin to achieve stability.

He also expressed admiration for Malta which, in spite of its small size, had two MEPs sitting in one of the most influential committees in Strasbourg.