France and Romania are expected to sign an agreement on tackling illegal immigration and organised crime.

The signing will coincide with the visit of the French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, to the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

French police have recently made a number of high-profile arrests among Romanian gangs who force immigrants into prostitution, and recruit children and disabled people to beg in France.

Government estimates say there are 2,000 Romanian children on the streets of Paris and the southern city of Marseille alone.

France attracts high numbers of Romanians in search of a better life.

Numbers have swelled since visa restrictions were lifted in January.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service