Bangladeshis land illegally in Italy

Europe is fast clamping down on immigrants

The police in Italy say they have caught 117 illegal immigrants early on Monday, as they were heading for the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

Most of these illegal immigrants were found to have come from Bangladesh

A number of women and children too were in the group.

The police said they had also arrested three Moroccans on board the boat which had smuggled the people into Italy.

Tough actions

The incident came ahead of a meeting between Italy's Interior Minister, Claudio Scajola, and his French counterpart to discuss illegal immigration.

EU interior ministers have moved towards creating a new European border police force to curb illegal immigration.

At a meeting in Rome on Thursday, they gave the go-ahead to a scheme that could see the first European task-force in place as early as this summer.

The ministers' recommendations will be considered by heads of government at the forthcoming European summit in Seville.