
These unsettling images show dozens of migrants wrapped in emergency blankets clinging to rocks off the Italian coast after spending last night in the open.

The group of around 50 are huddled together under a bleak grey sky in Ventimiglia, a town right on the border with France.

Italian police moved in yesterday to disperse around 200 migrants who were staging a sit-in at a border crossing after French police refused to let them enter the country.

The men in these pictures slipped away from the police cordon and took refuge on rocks near the border post.

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The group of around 50 huddle together on rocks by the sea under a bleak grey sky in Ventimiglia, a town right on the border with France

A migrant protecting himself with an emergency blanket wakes up after a night out in the open

Italian police moved in yesterday to disperse around 200 migrants who were staging a sit-in at a border crossing with France after French police refused to let them enter the country

This group of 50 slipped away from the police cordon and took refuge on rocks near the border post

Migrant children shelter as they wait along the road in Ventimiglia yesterday/ The Schengen open borders accord means migrants landing in Italy can usually easily travel through neighbouring France, put police there have put a stop to that with this group

Ventimiglia is an Italian town three miles from the border with France, and has been the centre of flashpoints between police and migrants

It comes as a UN Special Representative slammed Britain for not taking in more migrants like Sweden or Germany.

Peter Sutherland, UN special representative of the secretary-general for international migration, said British politicians had not made the case for welcoming migrants to the UK.

He added a sense of 'xenophobia and racism' had been created as a result, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Meanwhile refugees from Syria have been pictured disembarking from a ferry at the port of Piraeus near the Greek capital Athens this morning. Hundreds arrived without papers on the Greek island of Lesvos during the last few days.

Refugees from Syria disembark from the ferry at Piraeus having arrived from Lesvos island. Hundreds without papers have arrived from Turkey in recent days

At the France-Italy border yesterday officers in riot gear pushed the 200 migrants back towards the town Ventimiglia three miles away.

'Where are our human rights?' some of the men shouted, claiming they had been treated roughly by the police.

An Italian official said the protesters would be taken by bus to reception centres in the western province of Imperia.

Some of the migrants refused entry into France had gone on hunger strike and others organised a sit-in at the border crossing and tried to block traffic.

They included men, women and children, with many coming from Somalia, Eritrea, the Ivory Coast and Sudan. They reached Italy by taking the often precarious boat crossing from Libya.

Many hoped to travel onwards to Germany, Britain or Sweden to request asylum, but French border police told AFP earlier they had been ordered not to let the migrants through.

'We are not going back, we need to pass,' read a large banner held aloft by one group of migrants, while another read: 'We need freedom.'

Before the Italian police made their move, the migrants curled up on pieces of cardboard and sheltered under trees and bushes. While the women and children ate food provided by the Red Cross, the men refused.

'We won't eat,' said 20-year-old Mustapha Ali. 'We spent all of yesterday in the heat, and last night in the rain and cold. If we must die here, there is no need to eat.'

A record number of 1,439 migrants were intercepted this week by French police in the Alpes-Maritimes region of southeast France, with 1,097 returned to Italy.

The Schengen open borders accord means migrants landing in Italy can usually easily travel through neighbouring France, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia as they seek to make it to Britain, Germany and Scandinavia.

But border controls have been temporarily reintroduced due to a recent summit of G7 leaders in Germany.

A source close to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told AFP Saturday that the police action was designed to catch people smugglers and to stop more migrant camps being set up in France.

'We cannot allow illegal migrants into France with Europe facing this exceptional wave of migration,' the source added.

But the mayor of Ventimiglia, Enrico Ioculano, told journalists that some of the migrants appeared to be getting through to France anyway by train.

Migrants gather at the Franco-Italian border near Menton, southeastern France today in the hopes of being allowed to cross

Migrants near Menton. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has threatened a 'Plan B' to deal with the flood of arrivals

A record number of 1,439 migrants were intercepted this week by French police in the Alpes-Maritimes region of southeast France, with 1,097 returned to Italy

A migrant takes a dip in the sea on the Italian side of the border near Menton. Attempts to cross the border into France have been rebuffed by gendarmes from both countries

The suspension of Schengen has increasing the pressure on Italy, where reception centres are at breaking point with about 76,000 people accommodated nationwide.

The build-up has seen hundreds of migrants including three-month-old infants bedding down in train stations in Milan and Rome.

The EU's proposed migrant distribution plan -- under which 24,000 refugees would be redistributed to other countries -- has been plagued by problems, leaving tempers fraying.

The proposal 'is not a magic wand' but 'if Europe does not take at least this step (to help Italy), it would be a terrible defeat,' Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.

A family of migrants embrace after disembarking at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, earlier this morning

More than 1,800 predominantly Syrian refugees and other immigrants who crossed the sea from the Turkish coast to Lesvos have been ferried to Athens

Hundreds of refugees without papers like these have arrived on Lesvos in recent days, of whom 1,8000 have been given temporary documents by the Greek authorities

The head of Italy's anti-immigration Northern League party, Matteo Salvini, summed up the country's frustration, simply saying 'Europe doesn't give a damn.'

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi today threatened to go to a 'Plan B' to deal with migrants which 'would hurt Europe' if Italy is not given greater help with the crisis.

The country is struggling to accommodate an endless wave of boat migrants and a crackdown on security at the French and Austrian borders over the past few days has excerbated the situation, causing a bottleneck at Italy's train stations.

The crisis 'should not be underestimated. It is a serious issue and, let me be clear, Europe's answers so far have not been good enough,' Renzi said in an interview published in the Corriere della Sera daily.

The EU is having difficulty getting consensus for its proposed migrant distribution plan - under which 24,000 refugees would be taken by other countries - but Italy is hoping an EU summit on 25 June will go even further.

'Redistributing just 24,000 people is almost a provocation,' Renzi said.

'If Europe chooses solidarity, good. If it doesn't, we have Plan B ready. But it would first and foremost hurt Europe,' he said, without providing details.

Italian police dispersed a protest by around 200 migrants at the Italy-France border outside Ventimiglia yesterday

Officers in riot gear with shields pushed the migrants back towards the town, three miles from the border on the Italian side

The majority of the protesters were dispersed but 50 slipped away from the cordon and camped out on rocks by the sea at Ventimiglia

Over 57,000 migrants and asylum seekers have been rescued at sea and brought to Italy so far this year, up from 54,000 at the same time last year, he said.

The PM will raise the immigration issue with his British and French counterparts when they travel to Milan this week, and said he would also speak to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Under the Dublin convention, refugees must apply for asylum in the first country of entry to Europe - a rule which Italy says is unfair as it leaves Rome to deal with the thousands of migrants washing up on its shores.

Greece has also long complained of being left with the same problem.

The Schengen open borders accord has until now meant those landing in Italy can usually easily travel through neighbouring France, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia as they seek to make it to Britain, Germany and Scandinavia.

But border controls have been temporarily reintroduced due to a recent summit of G7 leaders in Germany, sparking migrant protests at the frontier with France Saturday when French police refused entry to more than 200 people hoping to head to northern Europe.