Senegal and France signed an immigration agreement on Saturday as part of the efforts to halt a flood of illegal migration from Africa to Europe.

Senegalese Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy attended the signing ceremony on behalf of their governments.

Sarkozy, who was on a day-long visit to the west African nation, hailed the deal as unprecedented. The two sides agreed to take joint action to repatriate "migrants in an irregular situation to their countries of origin," said the French minister.

Ngom deplored victims "putting their lives in danger due to the greed of mafia networks."

Europe complains about a flood of illegal immigrants from Africa, with more than 20,000 found this year on Spain's Canary Islands.

Source: Xinhua