They are reported to come from Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa.

They arrived hours before a planned ceremony in Sicily marking the closure of what was once the biggest migrant reception centre in Europe.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is expected to attend the event.

The centre, at Mineo, once housed more than 4,000 migrants. It is now empty, with the remaining migrants transferred to smaller centres.

On Monday, a German charity, Sea-Eye, rescued 44 people off the Libyan coast.

It is working with the Maltese authorities to transfer them to their custody.