Refugees arriving in Italy up by a quarter in June - EU border agency

The number of refugees arriving in Italy from northern Africa increased by about a quarter in June compared to May, European border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.

Some 22,500 people arrived on Italy's shores, 24% more than in May, most of them coming from Nigeria, Eritrea and Sudan, Frontex said in a statement.

In the year to date, the number of arrivals on the central Mediterranean route was broadly the same as 2015,  the agency said.

The number of refugees arriving in Greece from Turkey was 95% lower compared to last year, mainly because of an agreement between the EU and Turkey to send migrants back, as well as stricter controls imposed by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at its border with Greece.