Italy struggles to deal with migrant boats following a surge in arrivals

Facilities on the Italian island of Lampedusa are being overrun by thousands of migrants who have arrived by boat in recent weeks. It comes as Tanzanian authorities have arrested hundreds of migrants and people smugglers as they attempt to make their way to Europe. Lampedusa has recently become the brunt of crossing from Tunisia and is not the main migrant smuggling base, replacing Libya. Nearly 126,000 migrants have been reported to have arrived in Italy this year, almost doubling the figure in 2022. Migrants have had to be transferred to relieve the overstretched refugee centre, which has a normal capacity of around 400.