Some 40 migrants including women and children were due to reach Lampedusa on Monday aboard a coastguard boat after they were rescued several miles off the tiny southern island, officials said.
The latest arrivals will bring around 150 the number of migrants who have come ashore on Lampedusa over the past 10 days. These include over 80 migrants rescued by two charity ships which defied a ban by Italy's hardline interior minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini and entered the island's port.
Less than 3,000 migrants have reached Italy's shores by boat this year, compared with 17,000 in 2108 and in 70,000 in 2017, Salvini said on Monday.
Tunisians, Pakistanis, Ivorians, Algerians and Iraqis were the top nationalities among this year's migrant arrivals, according to the interior ministry.
