The small Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving on its shores, its mayor said on Thursday, after thousands of people landed from North Africa on flimsy boats over the past two days.

The small Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving on its shores, its mayor said on Thursday, after thousands of people landed from North Africa on flimsy boats over the past two days.

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    Lampedusa sits in the Mediterranean between Tunisia, Malta and the larger Italian island of Sicily and is a first port of call for many migrants seeking to reach the European Union.

    A total of 387 migrants disembarked from nine craft on Thursday, Italian news agency Agi reported, adding that they were believed to have sailed from the Tunisian port of Sfax.

    Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini decried a lack of support from fellow EU members, calling the arrivals “an act of war” and “the death of Europe”.

    Preliminary data from Spain, another country on the EU’s southern flank, showed the number of migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands more than trebled to 2,891 people in the first two weeks of September.

    It added: “Increased migratory pressure may persist in the coming months with smugglers offering lower prices departing from Libya and Tunisia amid fierce competition among the criminal groups.”

    Italy has sought to improve ties with Tunisia and in July Tunis and the European Union signed a pact aimed at stemming migrant flows but that has had no immediate impact.

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