Fair weather and relatively calm seas have encouraged the influx of illegal immigrants to southern Italian shores and a special airlifts were needed to ease overcrowding at a temporary detention center on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily.
With the latest arrivals there are now more than 1,000 immigrants on Lampedusa, where the center is designed to host 600, and at least three flights have been scheduled to bring 280 to Bari, from where they will be sent to other processing centers.
Many of the immigrants on Lampedusa were rescued at sea by the Italian Coast Guard.
Aside from Lampedusa, immigrants have also been landing on the shores of Sicily and Sardinia.
