1700 migrants reach island of Lampedusa

Around 1700 migrants have reached the island of Lampedusa in the last 48 hours, causing the local reception point to become overcrowded.

The tiny Sicilian island lies only about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Tunisian coast.

Footage from Sky Italia captured on Sunday showed dozens of migrants aboard an Italian Coast Guard vessel being helped off the boat and onto an awaiting mini-van.

According to Interior Ministry figures, more than 28,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year – almost four times those who arrived over the same period in 2022.

However, the number of those reaching Italian shores after voyages aboard unseaworthy boats launched by traffickers, usually based in Libya or Tunisia, have dwindled compared to the hundreds of thousands who were rescued at sea a few years earlier.

Since its inception six months ago, Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition government, which includes anti-migrant League leader Matteo Salvini, has cracked down on humanitarian rescue boats operating in the central Mediterranean north of Libya.