Escape from Africa

LAST UPDATED AT 16:03 ON Tue 29 Mar 2011

Boats have so far brought 18,500 migrants this year to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, which sits between Tunisia and Sicily. This is compared with 4,000 migrants during the whole of 2010. The mix of economic migrants from a turbulent Tunisia and refugees from Libya have swamped the island and created a "desperate" situation.

In pictures: The Italian island of Lampedusa is reeling from an influx of refugees from the Arab Spring

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