Severe Detention Regimes and Paltry Conditions

Detention is a key immigration enforcement measure in Hong Kong, despite the fact that detention facilities have long been criticised for poor conditions and complaints of mistreatment.

Full Country Profile

5,549

Migration Detainees

4

Number of Detention Centres

52,506

Apprehensions of Non-Citizens

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Australia: Turning Arbitrary Detention into a Global Brand

Deplorable migration detention practices abound across the globe; Australia, however, brings together a range of extreme policies, provides them blanket legal cover, aggressively defends them in the face of growing international opprobrium, and spreads them to countries near and far.

Full Country Profile

5,019

Migration Detainees

32

Deportations/Forced Removals

7,685,860

International Migrants

54,430

Refugees

Trapped at the Crossroad between Europe and Asia

With one of the largest migration detention systems, Turkey has long served as Europe's reluctant refugee gatekeeper ... and sometimes strong-armed enforcer, as Afghan refugees have recently experienced.

Full Country Profile

16,108

Total Immigration Detention Capacity

30

Total Number of Detained Children

20,000

Detained Asylum Seekers

75,678

Deportations/Forced Removals

Still Waiting for Reforms as Europe Increases Pressure to Block Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Morocco prides itself for defending the rights of non-nationals, but its reputation has been tarnished as criticism has grown over its treatment of refugees and migrants. Increasing pressure from Europe to block the movement of migrants also encourages Morocco to use enforcement tactics that violate migrants’ fundamental human rights.

Full Country Profile

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

102,358

International Migrants

8,244

Refugees

11,240

Asylum Applications

Using data and analysis to promote the human rights of migrant detainees

Every day, tens of thousands of men, women, and children are detained across the globe for reasons related to their immigration status: asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, refugees, trafficking victims, torture survivors, stateless persons, and others. The GDP relentlessly pursues information about where they are locked up and how they are treated to ensure that their human rights are respected.

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Featured Publications

Special Reports & Working Papers

Submission to the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families 

39th Session 2024 Egypt: Urgent Appeal concerning Egypt’s Responses to Humanitarian Crises in Sudan and Eritrea Submitted in June 2024 This document is intended to provide a brief overview of a number of pressing violations facing refugees and migrants in Egypt for consideration by the Committee on Migrant Workers in preparing the list of issues for […]

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Annual Reports

Annual Report: Important Victories Amidst Inexorable Expansion

In the past year we have witnessed–and worked with our partners to help achieve–important victories limiting the use of indefinite immigration detention; at the same time, however, there has been an unmistakable entrenchment of detention as an enforcement tool as migration and refugee pressures grow in nearly every corner of the globe. […]

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Submissions & Recommendations

Türkiye: Submission to the Committee on Migrant Workers

38th Session, June 2024 – State Report Issues Related to Immigration Detention The Global Detention Project (GDP) and the International Refugee Rights Association (IRRA) welcome the opportunity to provide information relevant to the review of the Second Periodic Report of Türkiye during the 38thSession of the Committee on Migrant Workers. This submission focuses on the state party’s responses to the […]

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Submissions & Recommendations

Urgent Appeal on the Situation of Myanmarese Refugees in India

India has become an increasingly important destination for refugees fleeing Myanmar since the 2021 coup d’état. While the Indian government has condemned the violence, it has simultaneously ordered several frontline states to identify “illegal immigrants” with a view to deporting them. As states expand their detention systems there are increasing reports about mistreatment in custody, paltry detention conditions, and pushbacks along the border. […]

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