Record-breaking numbers of migrants are crossing the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy, prompting fears that authorities are powerless to stop another crisis.

Despite a huge political drive to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives on the deadly crossing from lawless Libya, the number of arrivals has surged by 42 per cent already this year.

Some 44,222 asylum seekers have reached Italian shores this year, compared to 31,205 at the same time last year.

Nearly 500 migrants were recovered by the Italian coastguard and navy

Rescuers also tragically discovered the bodies of seven men on the rubber boats

Disturbing claims have also emerged that the mafia in Sicily – where most migrants arrive – are siphoning huge sums of public money allocated to address the situation. And increasingly ruthless tactics being used by smuggling gangs have resulted in 1,222 deaths already this year.

Migrants yesterday told the Mail how armed gangs in Libya routinely raped women while effectively keeping migrants as slaves, before murdering those deemed unfit to travel.

Italy’s status as the main migration gateway to Europe comes after an EU deal with Turkey dramatically reduced the huge flow of asylum seekers travelling through Greece. But attempts by Rome and Brussels to find a similar solution have proved futile.

On Saturday, 484 migrants packed on just four rubber dinghies were saved during a huge rescue operation, while seven bodies were pulled from the water.

Italy registered more than 42,000 migrants arriving by sea by mid-April alone

The majority of migrants are rescued by fishermen or charity-run vessels – accused of operating a ‘taxi service’ – before being taken to Sicily by the Italian coastguard or Frontex, the EU border force.

The situation has led to deep social divisions on the island, with locals questioning why the EU is not doing more.

Mayor at centre of migrant crisis A Maverick politician at the forefront of the refugee crisis has been branded the ‘mayor of the migrants’ because of his open-door invitation. Pozzallo mayor Luigi Ammatuna, 76, whose town is one of the main entry points for migrants making the journey from North Africa, said he ‘loves everybody’ who arrives. But his offer of hospitality has divided locals, who say the constant stream of migrants has hampered its tourist industry. Paulo, whose family has run a hotel for many years, said: ‘People saw stories about hundreds of people dying and they were afraid about going swimming and meeting a corpse, so they did not come.’ Advertisement

Two-thirds of migrants are relocated to reception centres in Italy after several days in Sicily, but the island is host to Italy’s most notorious migrant camp.

Cara di Mineo, an isolated former US military base, houses up to 4,000 asylum migrants and has been at the centre of claims of criminal corruption. A major anti-mafia investigation has raised concerns that mobsters are preying on public funds intended to care for migrants. Investigators have unearthed suspects describing migrants as ‘milking cows’ and as being more profitable than the drug trade.

According to the Italian coastguard 97 per cent of illegal immigrants arrived from Libya

Migrants are rescued at sea. Prosecutors now believe that criminals have infiltrated refugee camps in Sicily

Prosecutors believe criminals – some of whom have infiltrated the camp – are skimming off the £25 daily allowance paid by the state to the private company running the camp for each resident. Several migrants living there told the Mail that officials had stopped paying the allocated £2.10 daily allowance and instead offered cigarettes.

Anna Aloisi, the mayor of the Mineo town which overlooks the site, said: ‘Don’t transfer any more migrants in our town, we’ve had our share and now our tolerance level is way over the limit.

The problem has gotten so bad that EU leaders are now considering whether they want to install a European mission on the Libyan border with Niger to deter would-be migrants

The EU discussed providing technical and financial support to improve Libyan border security

Migrants in the ancient town of Mineo in Sicily. The town of 5,000 residents, mostly elderly, now neighbors a camp holding 4,000 migrants

‘We’re seated on a bombshell, the only alternative is for locals to leave their homes in order to make room for migrants.’

Incredibly, the 46-year-old lawyer has found herself implicated in a criminal prosecution into the £82million public tenders to run the camp. She is alleged to have shown favour to mafia-linked clans during bidding.

Keven Omoroybe, a 26-year-old photographer from Nigeria who has lived in the camp for six months, described being held at gunpoint by smugglers in Libya.

He said three passengers, including his younger sister, died on the crossing, while a smuggler aboard the vessel shot one asylum seeker who had fallen into the sea. ‘They used me and others as slaves and wouldn’t feed us for two days. Every week they kill people depending on what country they came from,’ he said.

Pwright Bamawo, 21, a computer engineer from Nigeria with dreams of moving to the UK, said the camp’s residents felt ‘stranded’.

Dr Conor Kenny, who works for the Médecins Sans Frontières charity, said: ‘It has been brutal in recent weeks. There will be many more fatalities, I have no doubt.’

Federico Fossi, from the UN’s refugee agency, said: ‘We expect an increase in the summer and with the number of deaths already, this is very, very worrying.’