ROME – Over 300 migrants including women and children landed at Lampedusa overnight, with a total of 670 migrants arriving to the Italian island on Thursday, coastguards said.

 Six boats were intercepted off the coast of Lampedusa on the night between Thursday and Friday by the coastguard, and one other boat with 58 people aboard landed separately on Guitgia beach on the south side of the island. 333 migrants in total landed overnight. All seven had set sail from various port towns in Tunisia.

 The migrants on the six boats were transferred onto coastguards’ ships and triaged, before being transported to the Contrada Imbriacola migrant detention centre.

 During the day on Thursday, at least 10 other boats of migrants arrived in Lampedusa, making the total arrivals in one day 670. The majority of the migrants were of South Asian, South-East Asian or Sub-Saharan African origin.

 While the total number of migrants landing in Italy is down by 20,364 this year compared to landings from Jan. 1 to March 22 2023, with only 9,479 migrants landing in Italy in the first three months 2024, there has been a increase in recent weeks due to favourable weather and sea conditions. The detention centre on the island is currently holding over 1,200 migrants including over 150 unaccompanied minors. 

 khg