Moviment Graffitti said asylum seekers are not criminals and should not be treated as such.

“Asylum seekers leave their countries to find refuge from cruel circumstances such as torture, persecution and possibly death,” the pressure group said.

“However, instead of sympathy and support, most governments are treating them as criminals,” the group said, adding that their detention is not justified since they have committed no criminal offence.

A number are also being repatriated against their will and to a serious threat to the lives, Moviment Graffitti said.

The group said the problem of illegal immigration cannot be resolved through repression, but it can be improved through a process of integration.

Moviment Graffitti said that the present situation is increasing the slave market industry and human trafficking, and illegality degrades immigrants and places them in a world of social exclusion.

“Our society can benefit from the different skills, culture and talents of these immigrants,” Moviment Graffitti said, and it called for a radical change in European immigration policy.

Moviment Graffitti is against the concept of a fortress Europe and does not see why the immigration policy should only be a European process.

“The present world situation shows great economic divergence between first world and third world countries. This lack of equality is the root of immigration. It is ironic and contradictory that while the process of globalisation is opening up borders for capital, restriction of borders is taking place for human beings, most often direct victims of the process of economic globalisation,” Moviment Graffitti said.

In the local context, Moviment Graffitti urged the concerned authorities to tackle the problem of illegal immigration with more social conscience because the search for a dignified life is not a criminal offence but a fundamental human right.