More than 100 illegal immigrants protested on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday, alleging inhumane treatment by authorities there.

Thousands have poured onto the island from North Africa since the Tunisian uprising in January.

Lampedusa is just 225 kilometres from Tunsia’s coast and has a population of just 5,000.

One Tunisian immigrant said: “We haven’t eaten for days. There are no showers. There are so many (people) here and there are no toilets.”

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited the island on Wednesday.

He promised to move the migrants on to processing centres across Italy or deport them back to their native countries.