EU fails to agree on detention of illegal migrants

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union states failed to agree on Wednesday over the length of time illegal migrants can be detained and banned from re-entry, in a setback to the bloc's efforts to handle migration.

The EU struck a preliminary deal last month allowing a maximum 18-month detention of illegal migrants and a 5-year ban on their returning to the EU. But several EU envoys opposed the deal when asked to rubber-stamp it on Wednesday, diplomats said.

"There was no agreement," one diplomat said. "More than 10 countries had reservations, that is quite a lot."

"We are not done with this," he added of the nearly three years of struggle over the sensitive issue.

Germany, Austria and Greece had concerns over the cost of granting legal aid to illegal migrants to have a judge review the decision to expel them, the diplomat said.

Other EU envoys raised questions on the re-entry ban or said illegal migrants were not given enough time to agree to a voluntary return, while some had general reservations about the text, diplomats said.

Rights activists and illegal migrants demonstrated in the EU capital on Wednesday against the proposed 18-month detention cap and re-entry ban, saying such measures would effectively criminalise migration and build a "fortress Europe".

"We are going to jail and we've done nothing wrong," said illegal migrant Diabi Binta from Guinea. She was demonstrating with her child, who was born during nearly three years spent in Belgium seeking the right to stay.

Immigration is a sensitive issue in the EU, where the European Commission estimates up to 8 million illegal migrants live. More than 200,000 illegal migrants were arrested in the bloc in the first half of 2007 and less than 90,000 expelled.