The Northern Ireland Assembly is to debate the plight of asylum seekers on Tuesday.

Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, people who seek asylum in the province often end up being held in jail while their cases are being considered.

The situation has come about because of a lack of a suitable detention centre.

Sinn Fein assembly member Conor Murphy is to put forward a motion calling on the UK Government to develop an alternative to detention.

"A lot of the people who actually come to Ireland are unaware of the political differences and difficulties in terms of the border," he said.

"You find people straying across the border and getting tangled up in two different approaches to this issue.

"There are a great many issues which need to be resolved."

He said it would be helpful if the British and Irish governments developed a joint approach to the issue.

"Our worry and our concern is that they need to do that on the basis of international standards and human rights," he added.

Refugees transferred

The Home Office is currently carrying out a review of detention facilities in Northern Ireland.

Les Allamby, director of the Northern Ireland Law Centre, said it would be "unacceptable" if it proposed detaining people for a short period in the province and then transferring them to Scotland.

"We think it's very important that local MLAs and others are very vigilant about the outcome of the Home Office review."

The Law Centre has researched the plight of asylum seekers in the province.

It found 75 people had been detained over an 18 month period for an average of 36 days.

"The latest figures we have as recently as last week there were 19 people detained in prison in the last three months of which eight people are either in either Magilligan or Maghaberry at present," said Mr Allamby.

One refugee who came to Northern Ireland in 1996 to escape the political turmoil in Algeria spent nearly a year in Magilligan Prison, near Londonderry, after giving the wrong address to an emigration officer.

"It's a very bad situation inside the jail. You're almost treated like a criminal," he said.

Bouts of depression

The man was also attacked when he was in jail and a man bit off part of his right ear.

"I was in the hospital inside jail for one week and a half."

Four years after his release from jail, his case is still undecided.

The man now suffers bouts of depression, but does not want to be sent back as he fears for his life.

"I believe that if they send me back, I'll lose my life," he said.

Stormont has no devolved power in the area of asylum seekers but it is hoped that Tuesday's debate will highlight the issue.