Migrants gather at French border

HUNDREDS of refugees are taking part in a sit-in protest at the Franco-Italian border, as French gendarmes intensify their efforts to stop them entering the country.

The Italian Red Cross says the migrants who have gathered on the outskirts of Ventimiglia, a few metres from the French border at Menton, are mostly fleeing conflict in Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Ivory Coast.

The charity says most of them have made perilous journeys to Europe by boat from Libya and are seeking to reach northern Europe.

Some of the migrants are holding banners in English reading: "We need to pass" and "We need freedom".

Authorities in the Alpes-Maritimes have arrested 1,439 migrants in the past week, mostly in the border town of Menton, and marched them back to Italy on foot.

The préfecture says the situation is the worst seen in more than a year. Gendarmes have stepped up their checks at the motorway toll and on the SNCF rail line linking Ventimiglia and Menton.