Rome- More than 600 illegal immigrants arrived on Southern Italy's Lampedusa overnight, overwhelming the tiny islet's refugee centre, reports said Saturday.

The most recent arrivals swelled numbers in the island's reception centre, which has beds for just 700 people, to over 1,400.

Some 620 illegal immigrants in two boats landed on the island Friday night in stormy seas.

Some 250 of them were due to be flown to other refugee centres later Saturday.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa every year in the hope of entering the European Union through southern Europe. (dpa)