- Migrants are forced to sleep on rocks near to the French border with Italy
- Comes after France closed the frontier last week to stop migrants travelling
- The refugees were forced to huddle together for warmth in foil blankets
- They also protested holding up signs demanding the EU let them move on
Clinging to rocks and threatening to hurl themselves into the sea if turned away, these migrants who were rescued by HMS Bulwark are now demanding the right to cross to northern Europe and into France.
Hundreds massed at the Franco-Italian border after the French closed the frontier four days ago, effectively suspending the agreement which allows free movement on much of the Continent.
The refugees, who were rescued from the Mediterranean, huddled together wrapped in foil emergency blankets, some holding signs in English calling for a 'political response from European Union.'
Migrants wake up on the rocks next to Italy's border with France. They have threatened to hurl themselves in the sea if they are not allowed to travel into France
More than 150 migrants have been blocked from entering the French border town of Menton after officials blocked the border
Migrants have clashed with Italian police and are staging a sit-in protest demanding to be allowed to cross the border into France
Those who made it to the wire fence which marks the border at the top of the mountain could only look down at the view over Menton, the first French town across the border.
Italy is the first port of call for those seeking new lives in Europe with 57,000 migrants landing by boat already this year, out of 100,000 who have crossed the Mediterranean to the continent.
Despite EU rules requiring migrants to stay in the country where they first arrive, thousands landing on Italian shores by boat usually cross the border with France heading for northern Europe each month.
But since French Gendarmerie blocked the frontier on Thursday, migrants have clashed with Italian police and are staging a sit-in protest demanding to be allowed to cross the border.
French authorities have sent back around 1,000 migrants who successfully crossed the border in the past few days to border town Ventimiglia.
As part of their protest, migrants held up banners criticising the EU. This one states that the migrants will not be going back home
French authorities have sent back around 1,000 migrants who successfully crossed the border in the past few days to border town Ventimiglia
Many of those turned back set up camp in the piazza of the border village of Ponte San Ludovico, where they were joined by others from Milan and the south. Holding up signs saying ‘we are not animals. We are human beings’ they chanted ‘We are not going back’.
But on Saturday evening police in riot gear moved to clear the square. Around 80 ran to rocks on the sea-shore where several dozen spent Saturday night and Sunday refusing to move.
Many of the men have gone on hunger strike, telling Red Cross workers they ‘would rather die than go back’.
One Eritrean almost drowned after throwing himself into the water as police advanced to clear the area. He was eventually pulled to safety by his compatriots.
Despite EU rules requiring migrants to stay in the country where they first arrive, thousands landing on Italian shores by boat usually cross the border with France
Stranded migrants carefully walk over the rocks where they have been forced to sleep after being banned from entering France
Aid workers and volunteers have been distributing food, water and blankets, but many of the men are refusing to eat. The women have been accepting sandwiches for the children, according to reports.
The mayor of Menton, Jean Luc Buibal, said: ‘ The border will remain closed. They seem to accept that they will never get past.’
Italian government sources are viewing the closing of the French border as a hostile and ‘serious action’, according to reports.
Italy's interior minister said it represents a 'punch in the face for Europe'.
Angelino Alfano said: 'It is the proof that they do not want to stay in Italy. They want to go to (other parts of) Europe and they consider our country as a transit country.'
Waves splash up on to the rocks close to where migrants are sleeping. The town of Ventimiglia is close to upmarket French resort Nice
Aid workers and volunteers have been distributing food, water and blankets for the migrants, but many of the men are refusing to eat
It comes after the Italian president of the northern Italian region of Lombardy has said he will no longer allow any migrants to enter the region following the huge rise in people trafficking to Italy.
In comments supported by other senior leaders in the region, Roberto Maroni, former leader of the right-wing Lega Nord, said he had told mayors and other officials in Lombardy to refuse the central government's demand for the settling of migrants in the region.
The tension has arisen as David Cameron prepares to visit Italy on Wednesday, when he will take in the EXPO world fair in Milan.
Last week it was revealed some how migrants rescued by HMS Bulwark in the Mediterranean and taken to Sicily strolled out of a refugee camp within 24 hours and restarted their attempt to get to London.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has demanded greater solidarity and says he will use their meeting to push his plans for other European countries to resettle quotas of 40,000 migrants already granted asylum in Italy and Greece.
Last week HMS Bulwark was forced to go to the aid of migrants who became stranded in a small boar off the coast of Libya
Royal Marines had to rescue the men before they were searched and processed and handed over to Italian authorities
Migrants who became stranded in the Mediterranean are rescued and pulled safely on board HMS Bulwark by the Royal Navy
He also threatened to implement a 'Plan B' to deal with the migrant crisis that would 'hurt' Europe, but did not specifically say what that would be.
But Italian media reported today that Rome could start issuing newly arrived migrants with temporary visas giving them the right to travel throughout Europe's border-free Schengen zone.
Meanwhile hundreds more migrants aware that the border is closed are massing in Rome, where the Red Cross have set up a tented refugee camp behind the main bus station, Tiburtina.
In Milan migrants were evicted from the main train station on Saturday and have set up temporary home in some empty shops.
More than 100,000 migrants - many fleeing the war in Syria - have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe so far this year, the U.N. refugee agency said last week.
It said 54,000 people had travelled illegally to Italy and 48,000 to Greece so far in 2015, with another small fraction heading for Spain and Malta.
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