GETTY Italy has bolstered its repatriation programme amid record numbers of migrant arrivals

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The country’s reinforced programme comes after the number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean has increased by 40 per cent this year, to 37,000, the United Nations Refugee Agency reports. Marco Minniti, the Italian interior minister said 6,242 migrants had been put on flights home by the middle of April 2017, mostly to North African countries, including Tunisia – a 24 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Migrant crisis: Key locations before and after Tue, April 4, 2017 In these composite images, a comparison has been made between a scene at a key location during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis last year and the view there now Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10 Aid workers help migrants up the shore after making the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on November 16, 2015 in Sikaminias, Greece

He added: “The challenge is getting countries to accept forced repatriations. It’s not always simple, we need compatible databanks.” Mr Minniti insisted he was working with other countries to cut the time they take to provide positive identification of individual migrants to 30 days. Without formal identification, Italy cannot expel migrants. Anis Amri, the Tunisian who killed 12 people when he drove a lorry into a market into Berlin’s Christmas market last year was held in Italy pending expulsion.

But the terrorist was released after Tunisia failed to identify him. Last year, 18,684 migrants were repatriated from Italy through deals with North African countries and West African countries including Nigeria and Gambia. This year 4,575 Bangladeshis have crossed into the EU, the second largest group after Nigerians.

Italy’s foreign minister has agreed with the accusations that some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) may be “colluding” with people smugglers to sneak migrants into Europe. Sicilian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro claimed to have “evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya”.

GETTY Macro Minniti speaking at a meeting to curb Libyan migration