GETTY More than 25,000 migrants arrived in Italy last month

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The huge influx makes a 12 per cent increase on the same period last year, according to European Union border agency Frontex. Most who made the trip across the Mediterranean Sea, often in flimsy dinghies, were Nigerians and Eritreans. With migrants now facing tougher measures in Greece, many have changed tack this year and used Italy as an entry point into Europe.

Subsequently, just 1,800 migrants attempted to illegally cross Greece’s borders last month, down 97 per cent from July 2015. However, this change is placing an increasing strain on Italy - especially it’s southern islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

GETTY Hundreds of migrants are now camped out at a bottleneck in Italy's northern towns

More than 140,000 migrants are now housed in Italian shelters, a seven-fold increase on 2013, with the migrant now crisis in its third year. David Miliband, a former British foreign minister who now heads the International Rescue Committee, added: "This is not a blip. "The forces that are driving more and more people from their homes - weak states, big tumults within the Islamic world, a divided international system. None of these things are likely to abate soon."

Migrants go to extreme lengths to cross borders Fri, October 7, 2016 Desperate migrants fleeing Syria and surrounding places have been trying to sneak across borders in incredible ways. These include hiding in suitcases and sleeping next to car bonnets Play slideshow 1 of 40

With migrants blocked from travelling further north into central Europe, Italian officials are now concerned about a growing bottleneck in its northern border towns. With a growing number now gathering at the town of Ventimiglia, a town by the French border, the interior minister Angelino Alfano vowed to avoid a similar situation to Calais. He said: “There will be no leniency towards those who exploit the migrant crisis.

GETTY The number of migrants arriving in Italy has increased by 12 per cent compared to July 2015

“Ventimiglia will not be our Calais.” In its report on the growing crisis in Italy, Frontex also warned the manner in which migrants were making it across the sea was getting increasingly dangerous.

GETTY Desperate migrants are putting their lives at risk in flimsy or unsafe vessels