Hundreds of migrants reach Italian island

Migrants of sub-saharan origin fleeing uprising in north Africa arrive in Lampedusa.

Italy pkg

More immigrants have arrive in Italy, but increasingly the migrants making this journey to the small island of Lampedusa are not North africans.

‘These people of sub-saharan origin have started arriving over the last few weeks. Before that there had been a flow of men and women coming from Tunisia’, said Italian police Bartolo Campo.

The United Nations has said that hundreds of Africans from countries like Eritrea and Somalia had fled Libya for Tunisia but have begun trying to get back into Libya again in order to find a boat to take them to Europe.

The UN has tried to warn them how dangerous the crossing can be, but most have said they think it’s worth the risk.

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee reports from Lampedusa, Italy.

Source: Al Jazeera