Migrants sleep on Lampedusa road before quarantine
Some 20 boats packed with hundreds of migrants arrived off the Mediterranean island on Sunday (May 9) within 24 hours and over two thousand migrants were rescued.
The holding centre on the Mediterranean island, one of the main landing points for people trying to get into Europe, can only hold just over 1,000 migrants and was already full.
Local authorities on the island have said they are already unable to cope with any new arrivals and Sicily authorities have called a state of emergency to help release funds.
Around 11,000 migrants disembarked on Italy's coasts from the start of 2021 to May 7, up from 4,105 in the same period last year, interior ministry data shows.
