Hundreds of immigrants who have arrived on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa this week were being transferred by ship and plane to holding centres throughout the country on Friday.
The interior ministry said around 1,000 people will be moved over the next two days in order to relieve pressure on Lampedusa's immigrant holding centre, which on Friday morning was crammed with 1,684 people - an all-time high at the centre, which has a capacity for just 850.
Migration facilities on the tiny island have been pushed to breaking point in recent weeks as waves of people have been taking advantage of the good weather to make the crossing from the African coast.
On Thursday almost 1,000 people landed on the island in nine different boats, while a further 24 arrived at dawn on Friday.
Lampedusa Mayor Bernardino De Rubeis said Thursday that the island's infrastructure was under severe strain and its tourist trade 30% down because of the migrant surge.
Deputy mayor Angela Maravento has pledged to start a hunger strike in a dinghy moored in the harbour on Sunday unless the government acts to improve the situation.
An average of 15,000 would-be immigrants land each year on Lampedusa, where the vast majority of boats crossing from Africa are intercepted.
The island is closer to the coast of Tunisia than to the Italian mainland.
Last Friday the Italian government declared a national state of emergency regarding ''the persistent and exceptional influx'' of illegal immigrants into Italy.
The government has pledged to build ten new holding centres to deal with the numbers.
It is also planning to make entering the country illegally a jailable offence as part of a large-scale crack-down on immigration.
