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More Lankan immigrants land on Italian coast

ROME, Wednesday (AFP) Italian police Wednesday detained 172 would-be immigrants of Sri Lankan and Indian origin after they landed on the coast of Calabria in southern Italy.

Police swooped on the illegal immigrants, the vast majority of them Sri Lankan, after they arrived at the port of Soverato aboard a 50 metre (160 feet) ship.

The ship was the 11th carrying would-be immigrants to arrive on the Calabrian coast since the beginning of the year.

Italian authorities said Wednesday that in Calabria alone, the exposed "sole" of Italy's boot, more than 1,000 people have been detained and taken to refugee centres in that time.

On Tuesday, a ship carrying 99 immigrants, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, landed on the island of Pantelleria, near Sicily.

Six people suspected of human trafficking were arrested by police.

Italy's 7,600-kilometre (4,720-mile) coastline has become a major target for criminal gangs smuggling migrants from eastern Europe into the EU.

The government recently decided to review rules on the right to asylum and set up a committee to coordinate the fight against illegal immigration.

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