Italy: Italian island overhelmed as thousand of Tunisian refugees arrive The tiny Italian island of Lampedusa has been overwhelmed by the arrival of more than 4,000 Tunisians in the last week, all of whom are trying to reach Europe. Rome has moved quickly to deal with the influx; it's not that long ago that Lampedusa was inundated with 21,000 illegal immigrants a year. That figure has now been brought down to 400, and the Italian government has no intention of letting the situation get back to what it once used to be.