Nearly all of the 1,300 would-be immigrants being held at a detention centre in on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa escaped Saturday and took to the streets to protest the poor conditions at the camp, dpa reported.
Italian media said the migrants, most of whom are Tunisian, had stormed the gates of the heavily overcrowded facility and made their way to the town hall under police escort.
To the applause of locals, the refugees demanded that they be taken to reception centres in Apulia, southern Italy. Islanders have over the last few days also protested the conditions at the detention centre.
Some 1,800 people - including over 200 who landed on Tuesday - were staying at the facility which can accommodate a maximum of 800.
The United Nations refugee agency on Wednesday warned Italy that overcrowding at the facility on the tiny island posed a security and sanitary risk.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on a visit to the island earlier this month said the migrants would no longer be relocated for identification to centres elsewhere in Italy, but would instead be expelled immediately.
A total of 36,900 would-be immigrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2008, a 75 per cent increase over the previous year.