"I was in ward A2. Opposite us was ward A1. That's where the criminals were, people who had stabbed someone for instance. They were released after three or four months. We, who hadn't done anything, had to stay in prison. It was hell."

To avoid problems with the immigration service the boy, just turned 18, has requested anonymity. He is from Pakistan where his father was killed and he has no other family left, he says. After a long trip overland he came to the Netherlands by train from France, hoping to pick up his studies here. But he was quickly picked up in Roosendaal, the first station across from the Belgian border.

Nine months

Asylum was out of the question. As an "unaccompanied underage alien" (alleenstaande minderjarige vreemdeling or AMV), he was locked up a few days later in the prison at Zwaag. He thought he would spend just a few days there; it turned out to be almost nine months.

His is not an isolated case. Last year, 160 AMVs spent time in Dutch detention centres - ten more than in 2007, according to numbers from the justice department. This week, a third wing was opened at a youth correction home in Overloon specifically for single underage aliens. The De Maasberg facility currently houses about 30 alien boys.

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe to lock up underage aliens waiting for deportation, says Carla van Os of the internal children's rights organisation Defence for Children. It has been criticised over this repeatedly, most recently in March of this year by Thomas Hammarberg, the European commissioner for human rights.

"It's a disgrace," says Van Os. "Imprisonment is a very drastic measure, especially for children who have not committed a crime. This should not be happening in a country like the Netherlands."

Anger shows in the Pakistani boys restless black eyes when he talks about his time in prison. "I got more desperate every day. I kept thinking: why am I here? How long is this going to last? Am I going to hurt someone? Myself? There was a time when I just stayed in bed all day. They sent me to see a psychiatrist, but I'm not crazy. There was nothing to do and I was desperate."

'Horror workshops'

Van Os says people often react incredulously when they hear the Netherlands is locking up minors. "We are used to giving 'horror workshops' about the Dutch situation in other European countries."

She also says locking up minors is ineffective. "As far as I know only three of the 160 minors locked up last year have gone back to their country of origin." The justice ministry has different statistics because it includes people sent back to the country where they first entered the European Union.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin says locking up minors is "for their own protection". It is supposed to keep the children from being abused or end up living in the streets as illegal aliens. "I don't buy that story," says Van Os. "The AMVs who are locked up are eventually released. Then, they end up in the streets anyway."

The Pakistani boy was released from prison on a moment's notice. "It was bizarre. Suddenly, I was outside the gate. There is the road, they said, and over there is a store and a bus stop. They gave me an address in Amsterdam where I could probably get a bed."

In December 2008, deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak closed the minors section at the Zwaag prison where the Pakistani boy was held. Inspectors had determined that the location was entirely unsuitable to hold minors. Most of the AMV's from Zwaag have since been moved to the youth correction facility at Overloon.

Van Os: "Overloon is a vast improvement. They try very hard. But it's the principle of the thing: they're still locked up."

New policy

John Nijhuis, director at Overloon, understands the concerns of children's rights groups about underage foreigners being locked up. "But it is not up to me. It is up to the politicians."

So what's the alternative? Van Os: "There has to be decent care, not detention. And we need to look at each case individually to see what is needed for a successful repatriation. You need to give these young people some perspective if deportation is going to succeed."

But what about the danger that the minors will fall into the hands of human traffickers? "As in the case of Dutch children, a judge has to determine if there are grounds to keep a minor in youth detention. Only then can imprisonment be justified," says Van Os.

Deputy justice minister Albayrak had announced a new policy on AMVs by this summer, but is has already been postponed until the fall, much to the disappointment of childrens' rights organisations.

The Pakistani boy now sleeps at an acquaintance's house in Haarlem. He spends his days on the streets, afraid that he might be arrested again at any time. He is resigned: "I have no life anyway."