European Parliament Passes Stringent Immigration Guidelines

The European parliament has passed tough new immigration guidelinesthat sparked protests on the part of human rights groups and somelawmakers. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

Europeangovernments had already approved the new immigration measures, but theystill awaited passage by the European parliament. That happenedWednesday.  

The guidelines allow the European Union's 27members to hold illegal immigrants for up to 18 months in specialdetention centers before deporting them. That is considerably longerthan current detention policies in most EU countries - but members arenot required to adopt the longer limits.

Those expelled alsoface a five-year re-entry ban applicable for the entire bloc. Butgovernments must first give the immigrants a chance to leave thecountry voluntarily - and they are required to offer those detainedfree legal advice and other basic rights.

Those supporting themeasures, including EU Commissioner Jacques Barrot, argue theysafeguard rights for legal immigrants while setting common Europeanstandards for illegal ones.

Barrot says Europe does not want tobe a closed fortress. It will continue to welcome immigrants fromelsewhere - just as it does now - and remain faithful to offeringasylum to those needing it. But he says the European Union cannotaccept illegal immigration, which he argues is not fair to anyone.

Butcritics like Nicolas Berger, director of Amnesty International'sBrussels office, claim the new immigration guidelines are unfair.

"Wehave mainly got two concerns about this reform directive," Bergersaid. "One is the length of detention. People [can] get detained forone-and-a-half years and these are people who have not committed anycrime."

Amnesty is also worried that the five-year re-entry ban could hurt those who truly need asylum.

"Europeis for us going in the wrong direction here quite a bit in terms ofcontinuing this discourse of scapegoating immigrants, of puttingimmigrants and asylum seekers in the same box as criminals andconnecting them to terrorism without looking at reality and individualcases," Berger said.

About eight million illegal immigrantsreside in the European Union, according to the bloc's estimates. Morethan 200,000 were arrested in the first half of last year - but lessthan 90,000 were expelled.