According to a report published on the official website of that government institution, the increase is significant in relation to 30,939 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country by that route during the same period last year.

Particularly alarming is the increase in the number of boats, mainly from Tunisia and Libya, which have reached the coasts of the small island of Lampedusa, the southernmost point of the country, where seven boats with 350 migrants were registered in the early hours of this morning alone, a spokesman for the ministry said.

In statements reported by the newspaper La Repubblica, the spokesman said that the new arrivals are in addition to 1,700 people who landed from 23 ships last Monday, so that the small reception center of Imbriacola, on Lampedusa, with a capacity for 400 migrants, currently accommodates more than 2,000.

jg/ybc/mem/ort