London: According to The Times, France is beefing up its southern border security with 150 police officers in response to a surge in migrants leaving Libya and Tunisia to enter the country via Italy.

Migrants crossing the Mediterranean use Ventimiglia, Italy's border town, to enter France, traversing mountain passes or swimming the short distance to Menton, France.

This year, nearly 40,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa into Italy, up from 9,500 in 2022.The vast majority of arrivals arrive in Libya and Tunisia, with the latter serving as a transit point for migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa.This year, 661 migrants have drowned while attempting the perilous journey, which is often undertaken in small metal dinghies.

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As economic decline and drought ravage large parts of Africa, Italian authorities fear that migration numbers will rise further, prompting France to beef up border security in the south.On the Italian island of Lampedusa, 2,700 migrants are being held in a 400-person capacity detention centre.This comes after over 1,000 people arrived on the island on Wednesday via 20 different vessels.`

"The centre is holding 400 unaccompanied minors, many from West Africa, including some under 10 years old," said Save the Children spokesperson Giovanna Di Benedetto.

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"Some of them have been in the centre for a month because there aren't enough spaces on the mainland for them.They are the most vulnerable, yet they are the most vulnerable here."