Lampedusa, not far from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, is a major destination for migrants seeking to enter European Union countries.

A record of more than 2,000 migrants arrived on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa in the past day, an Italian official said Saturday.

Some 1,778 people arrived on Friday, with another 267 refugees and migrants landing on seven small boats between Friday night and Saturday morning, the official said.

The humanitarian rescue ship Louise Michel and Coast Guard and Finance Police vessels intervened to rescue four boats in distress.

Previous years have witnessed higher numbers of arrivals but never this early in the year in the space of a day.

Lampedusa, not far from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, is a major destination for migrants seeking to enter European Union countries.

Charities rescued many of the boats. Under new rules from Italy’s right-leaning government, NGOs face fines for breaking a code of conduct.

The number of refugees and migrants arriving on Italy’s shores by boats more than tripled in the first two months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, according to Italy’s interior ministry.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday blamed the rising figure of migrants on the “political situation” in Tunisia, where several African countries like Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea, and Gabon have facilitated the repatriation of their citizens following Tunisian President Kais Saied’s controversial remarks regarding illegal immigration into the North African country.

“900,000 people will arrive in Italy that Italy cannot welcome,” Meloni told the European Council, while asking for collaboration with European partners to accept migrants and help block departures from Turkey, Libya, and Tunisia.

In February, a migrant shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy left more than 70 people dead.

Meloni earlier this month wrote to European leaders, saying it was their “duty, moral even before political” to prevent another such tragedy, and that a distinction needs to be made between migration and refugees.

“Confusing the two levels, as has often been done so far, is to the detriment of the most fragile and those in need of help. And that’s not right,” she said, adding the need for a single policy on refugees across Europe.