GETTY A record number of migrants arrived in Italy this year

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Pressure on Italy’s shelter and asylum system has increased following the spike of new arrivals. There have been more migrants arriving in the country following an agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the number of people sailing to Greece. As of November 28 of this year, 171,299 boat migrants had reached Italy, compared to the previous record of 170,100 for all of 2014.

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GETTY The majority of the migrants have come from North Africa

The country has recorded an influx of nearly half a million migrants in the past three years. There are more than 176,000 asylum seekers living in shelters in Italy, which is putting the country’s asylum process and legal system under pressure. The majority of the migrants who have come to Italy this year are from Africa with 36,000 Nigerians, 20,000 Eritreans and 12,000 people from Guinea. Some estimates have put the number of refugees in the world today at the highest levels in history, with many coming from the Middle East and Africa.

GETTY Rescuers are worried that this year there will not be enough vessels to rescue the migrants

Italy’s coastguard saved 1,397 migrants in 12 operations between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon. According to counts by the International Organisation for Migration and the UN refugee agency, the latest victims will add to a total of 4,655 migrants confirmed to have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean so far this year. Brussels now requires Italy to set up migrant centres, called “hotspots”, where officials can distinguish between those who who faced serious harm and those who should be sent home.

GETTY A protest in support of migration in Rome