Malta - Army on 'high alert' as 6,000 Tunisian people land on Lampedusa

maltese press

Some of the Tunisian migrants that have landed on Lampedusa amassed inside a football pitch on the tiny island
The Armed Forces of Malta have stepped up their sea patrols South of the island as numerous boats laden with migrants from Tunisia have reached the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Almost 6,000 Tunisians have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa, leading the Italian government to declare a humanitarian crisis on the island and declared a state of emergency.
A number of migrants have been reported missing after their boat capsized.
The latest political uprising in Tunisia has led to hundreds of migrants to attempt the crossing, prompting authorities in Malta and Italy to tighten external and internal security given that many migrants are prison escapees during the uprising that ousted President Ben Ali.
Italian home affairs minister Roberto Maroni has appealed to the European Union to respond to the humanitarian crisis that is developing in the Mediterranean basin following the uprisings in the Maghreb, with thousands of economic migrants seeking to cross into Europe.