They are processed in centers, screened for asylum and often sent back home.
Those who aren't usually melt into the general public and make their way to northern Europe, where immigrant communities are bigger and better organized.
In Italy, migrants can only work legally if they have a work permit and contract before they arrive.
According to the U.N. refugee agency, 8,400 migrants landed in Italy and Malta in the first six months of the year, almost double the 4,500 who arrived during the first half of 2012.
It's still a far cry from the tens of thousands who flooded to Italy, especially through Lampedusa, during the Arab Spring exodus of 2011.
Updated on: October 03, 2013 17:41 IST
