Migrants stand on board the rescue ship Louise Michel, funded by British street artist Banksy, during a rescue operation by crew members of civil sea rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 off the coast of Malta on Saturday. Photo: AFP

A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where the main holding center is already overcrowded, prompting the local mayor to call for a general strike to push the government to take action.

Italy has been struggling in recent months to deal with daily arrivals of hundreds of migrants to its southern shores, a task complicated by security measures imposed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. 

The boat carrying 367 people, which was in danger of sinking due to high winds, was escorted by the Italian coast guard and police to the island's port, ANSA news agency said.

They were met at the port by a demonstration organized by the far-right, anti-immigrant League party.

The new arrivals were taken to an emergency reception center on the island which now houses some 1,160 people, 10 times its maximum capacity, Lampedusa's Mayor, Toto Martello, told ANSA.

Martello called for a general strike on the island on Monday, to protest the national government's "frightening silence" on the issue.

About 30 other small boats, mostly from the Tunisian coast, had already reached the island since Friday carrying around 500 migrants.

Nello Musumeci, the right-leaning leader of Sicily, on Sunday wrote on Facebook that he would ask the government for a meeting on the "humanitarian and health crisis."

AFP