European Union lawmakers ruled today that illegal immigrants can be detained for up to 18 months and face a re-entry ban of up to five years.
European Union interior ministers approved the plans earlier this month and the European Parliament backed the new migration law by a large majority, with 369 voting for, 197 against and 106 abstaining.
Ireland and Britain, not part of the EU's borderless Schengen area, will not implement this new law. Denmark will decide within six months whether it will apply it or not.
The 18-month detention limit is longer than the current maximum period in two-thirds of the 27 EU states. Although EU states can keep a lower limit if they want, rights groups say it will encourage authorities to lock up more illegal migrants.
"We believe that the text approved today by the European Parliament does not guarantee the return of irregular migrants in safety and dignity," Amnesty International said in a statement. "It sets an extremely bad example."
Currently, the detention limit varies in EU members. Illegal migrants cannot be detained for more than 40 days in Spain and a year in Hungary, according to European Commission data.
Germany already has an 18-month detention cap, while eight EU countries which have higher caps or none at all would need to introduce the new EU limit.
The new limit will be based on an initial cap of six months that can be extended to 18 months under certain circumstances, including if the illegal migrant does not cooperate.
The law, which the 27 EU states need to implement within two years, gives migrants the right to appeal against expulsion and the right to have a judge review a detention decision.
Children can also be detained, according to the new text, which says that this should be for the shortest appropriate period of time.
European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Jacques Barrot said in a statement it was important to have common standards and that the measure would be implemented with full respect for human rights conventions.
The Socialist group in the European Parliament said it marked a victory for the "Europe of mistrust". The Green/Europe Free Alliance group, which had campaigned for a three-month maximum for detentions, said the law fell "below acceptable standards of civilisation".
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos disagreed. "This is a directive that guarantees rights, it is a directive that protects illegal immigrants. What it does is put things in order and that means it gives legal guarantees to all those foreign citizens who have illegally entered European territory," he said.
Reuters