Rome  - The Italian government said Wednesday evening it would deport about 500 Tunisian refugees from the southern island of Lampedusa.

The refugees will be repatriated over two months, said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, according to the ANSA news agency, following an agreement reached with the Tunisian government to curb illegal immigration.

It was a difficult task to identify the refugees, but, as a first step, about 100 Tunisians would get deportation orders and will leave the island in the coming days.

The reception centre on Lampedusa currently accommodates some 1,800 people, but only has capacity for 800.

Last week the United Nations refugee agency warned Italy that overcrowding at the facility on Lampedusa posed a security and sanitary risk and that the policy to seek the swift repatriation of the migrant may contradict measures aimed at safeguarding refugees. (dpa)