Leden Europees Parlement willen sluiting immigratiecentrum op Italiaans eiland Lampedusa (en)

Leftist MEPs have launched a campaign to close down all detention centres for illegal immigrants such as Lampedusa in Italy.

The campaign was launched on Tuesday (7 March) by Italian MEPs Giusto Catania and Luisa Morgantini on behalf of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament.

According to the MEPs the campaign will also include the majority of European NGO's that work with illegal immigrants.

Mr Catania said detention centres such as Lampedusa encourage more illegal immigration, because the migrants are faced with two choices.

"They will either be handcuffed and bundled off to military or civil airports and deported to Libya or, after a maximum of 60 days in detention, released to Italian territory with instructions to leave the country within five days, thus becoming a source of cheap labour for the European employment market" said the MEP.

There are about 170 detention centres around Europe that are on the MEPs' wish-list to be closed down.

Mr Catania criticised a proposal made in September by European justice commissioner Franco Frattini, that there should be a limit of six months in which a person can be detained in such a centre.

"Detention is a legal dishonour: for an administrative violation, such as the illegal arrival in a country or the expiry of permission to stay, we should not impose a prison sentence. In fact detention centres are like prisons, even worse," said Mr Catania.

The proposal to shut down the 170 detention centres around Europe will be presented to the European Parliament.

However, it is unclear how much support it will obtain from other political groups in the parliament.

A draft law setting a minimum standard for asylum seekers across the EU was approved by a margin of just three votes when it was approved in September 2005.