Immigrant detention law faces split vote

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A LAW that allows illegal immigrants to be detained for up to 18 months faces a knife-edge vote in the European Parliament due to left-wing opposition and doubts among other law makers, EU officials said.

After nearly three years of debate, European Union interior ministers this month agreed the measure, which allows detention without trial and means illegal immigrants would also face a re-entry ban of up to five years. The measure, which has been widely criticized by human rights groups, now needs to be agreed by the European Parliament.

Conservatives and liberals supported it in a debate yesterday, giving the text a theoretical majority, while socialists, greens and a communist-led group wanted to reduce the detention length.

"There is a majority on paper, but there can always be surprises, no one can predict the outcome," one European Parliament official said. "It's going to be a knife-edge vote," said another, adding that there would be splits within political groups.

"This directive is a disgrace, it's an insult to civilization in Europe," said Italian left-winger Giusto Catania, saying illegal migrants should not be detained for 18 months without having committed a crime.

"We are building a Europe which is shutting down on itself," said fellow socialist Martine Roure, urging the bloc to take steps to facilitate legal migration.

The 18-month limit is higher than the maximum detention in two-thirds of the 27 EU states. Although EU states can keep a lower limit if they want, rights groups and opponents say it will encourage authorities to lock up more illegal migrants.