Immigrants from North Africa line up for food and water distribution March 29 on Lampedusa island, southernmost Italy. Some 18,000 North African immigrants, mainly from unrest-torn Libya and Tunisia, have been flooding the small Italian island of Lampedusa, which is only 110 km away from Africa. More immigrants are expected to land here as the Libyan crisis deepens. Italy will send more ships with a total capacity of 10,000 berths to evacuate migrants on Lampedusa starting from Wednesday.