People whose asylum claims "do not have a prayer" because they fail to match any reasonable criteria should be put into secure "processing centres", according to a spokesman for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Refugees gather in Northern France en route to Britain
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The centres should be sited within Europe and a common EU-wide criteria should be set out so that people who are not fleeing their countries for genuine reasons can be dealt with swiftly.
In evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, the UNHCR's Michael Kingsley-Nyinah also said that the need for reform of the UK's asylum system could "not be overstated" as much of it dated back to the 1970s.
Mr Kingsley-Nyinah's comments come after UNHCR figures published last Friday showed that despite a general decrease in the number of asylum seekers across the European Union as a whole, the UK had a 20% rise in applications.
He said that the UNHCR "frowned" on detention of asylum seekers other than prior to immediate removal from a country.
Mr Kingsley-Nyinah - who is number two in the London office of UNHCR - said that his organisation envisaged "small scale pilots" for the processing centres.
Decent conditions
"It is likely that in the initial stages there may well be large numbers of people who are on the list of countries not deemed to normally produce refugees.
"As the system progresses people found not to need international protection will be returned."
He stressed that anyone held in the centres should not be held in "prison conditions".
"Part of our scheme is radical reform of national asylum systems so they become more effective in addition to dealing with fewer claims."
The UNHCR's proposal to set up centres in the EU varies from a British plan to deport asylum seekers to special centres outside Europe.
Mr Kingsley-Nyinah said: "With time the message would go around that if your claim is not solid, it would not be in your interest to head for the EU or UK in the hope that you will be accepted."
The committee's current inquiry is into the asylum applications process.
Earlier this month the Home Affairs Select Committee published a report critical of the government's failure to ensure failed asylum seekers were removed from the UK.
Extremism?
That said the issue could fuel social unrest and political extremism.
According the UN figures, 2002 saw more than 111,000 asylum applications to Britain - more than double the number in France.
As a proportion of population, Home Office figures show the UK received 1.8 applications for every 1,000 residents. This was less than half the highest application rates seen in Sweden, Norway and Austria.
The UN figures confirmed those issued by the government in February, which showed applications peaking in October and then falling since.
Half the year's applicants were accepted and more could stay on appeal.
The UN refugee agency said most of those entering Britain were from Iraq, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan - nations which had had strong historical links with the UK.
Ninety-five per cent of all Zimbabweans who arrived in Europe last year made their claims for asylum in Britain.
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