Pope Francis has called on the international community to help Italy with the increasing number of migrants being rescued from the Mediterranean.

Up to 700 people are feared to have died after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast last night. It is thought to be one of the worst disasters of its kind.

During his Sunday address in St Peter's square, the pope appealed to the international community to take decisive action to avoid further tragedies.

"They are men and women like us, our brothers seeking a better life, starving, persecuted, wounded, exploited, victims of war. They were looking for a better life," he said, according to Reuters.

"Faced with such a tragedy, I express my most heartfelt pain and promise to remember the victims and their families in prayer," the pontiff added.

The migrants are usually fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East, but the journey from Libya to Europe is treacherous, and the numbers of people dying on the crossing has increased significantly in recent years.

"I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to react decisively and quickly to see to it that such tragedies are not repeated," he said, and asked for the crowd to pray for "these brothers and sisters".

Yesterday at a meeting with the new Italian President Sergio Mattarella Francis thanked Italy for welcoming refugees, but said it was "evident that the proportions of the phenomenon demand much greater involvement".

"We must not tire in our attempts to solicit a more extensive response at the European and international level," he said.

Italy has the largest number of migrant arrivals in the EU. Last year a record 170,000 people made the journey, and 20,000 people have already arrived this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

More than 1,500 migrants are feared to have died since the start of this year. Around 400 people are thought to have died on Monday when a boat capsized, and a further 700 are feared dead after another boat sank yesterday.

The recent good weather is thought to have caused an increase in the number of people attempting the crossing.

Last year up to 3,072 people died trying to reach Europe, more than double the previous year. Since 2000, an estimated 22,000 migrants have died.

"These broken lives compromise the dignity of the international community and we are in danger of losing our humanity," the Italian president said yesterday, according to the Guardian.

Italy has said it will continue to rescue refugees, but has called for help from other European nations with giving them with shelter.

This is not the first time the Pope has raised his concerns about the issue. In a speech at the European Parliament in November he said: "We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery.

"The absence of mutual support within the European Union runs the risk of encouraging... solutions which fail to take into account the human dignity of immigrants, and thus contribute to slave labour and continuing social tensions."