EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said yesterday he would visit Malta to see for himself "the difficult situation of illegal immigrants" and how the country is coping.

Speaking during a debate at the European Parliament on the situation in Lampedusa, Mr Barrot said he fully understood the difficulties faced by the Italian island and Malta and that he wanted to see with his own eyes.

Although officially no dates have been given, Commission sources said he is expected to visit Malta later this month.

Intervening in the debate, Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil told Mr Barrot that Malta was facing an unprecedented and critical situation with hundreds of illegal immigrants crossing over to the island even during winter.

He said that, although the difficult situation in Lampedusa was not to be ignored, last Sunday's arrival of 260 illegal immigrants in Malta amounted to the equivalent of 39,000 arrivals in Italy in just one day.

Dr Busuttil said the EU had the duty to intervene and help Malta solve this problem.