Italy insists on EU aid to counter Tunisian immigrant influx

Some 5,000 migrants have landed on the island of Lampedusa in recent days, following Tunisia's January uprising while unconfirmed reports claim that at least five migrants died and others are missing after a boat sank.

Witnesses quoted by the AFP news agency said the boat had been rammed by a Tunisian coastguard ship.

Italy's interior minister said the country was seeking some 100m euros ($134m; £84m) from the EU to tackle the influx, while the situation is deteriorating so quickly that the mayor of Lampedusa has declared a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told EU President Herman Van Rompuy in a telephone conversation that the situation "is urgent and concerns all of the European Union", according to a government statement quoted by AFP news agency. In the meantime, Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said he had filed a request for funds on Monday.

He also said he had asked for the intervention of the EU's border management agency, Frontex, and placed an additional 200 soldiers on alert to supervise the centres where the migrants are staying.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has described the migrants as "a mixed flow" - some were fleeing insecurity in Tunisia, following last month's uprising there, while others were seizing the chance to get to Europe to find work.

Lampedusa Mayor Bernadino Rubeis said on Tuesday: "There is an entire nation trying to escape Tunisia to reach Italy and then to go on to other countries."

Since Tunisia overthrew Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last month, police patrols along the coast have been irregular.