ROME - Around 130 people were missing and at least 15 appeared to be dead after a vessel carrying migrants from North Africa capsized off Sicily in the early hours of Wednesday, coast guard officials said.

Rescuers picked up about 50 people after the boat sank at around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) 40 miles south of the island of Lampedusa, but high winds and rough seas made it difficult for coast guard boats and a police helicopter to operate.

Fifteen bodies had been seen in the water by mid-morning, officials said.

Lampedusa, roughly midway between Sicily and Tunisia, has become the focal point for a growing immigration crisis set off by the upheavals in North Africa and the removal of previously strict border controls.

Some 20,000 illegal migrants, almost all young men from Tunisia hoping to find work in Europe, have arrived this year, overwhelming the infrastructure of the tiny island, which normally lives from fishing and tourism.

Thousands were forced to shelter in makeshift tent encampments until Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought to end the weeks-long emergency by sending specially commissioned ferries to clear the island.

However, that has simply shifted the problem to other areas in Italy and caused arguments among regional governments over where to set up migrant holding centres.

On Tuesday, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni signed an agreement with the Tunisian government to try to halt the flow, pledging aid, increased police cooperation and possible compulsory repatriation for illegal immigrants.

The accord was confirmed on Wednesday by a cabinet meeting in Rome which set up an interministerial contact group to monitor progress.