On International Migrants Day 2021, let’s imagine a world where no migrants are subjected to arbitrary detention On International Migrants Day, 18 December, we celebrate the invaluable contributions that migrants and their families make to their host communities across the globe, which is reflected in the UN’s optimistic theme for this year’s day: “harnessing the potential of human […]
Publications & Events
Urgent Appeal: The Case of Egypt and Eritrea
Working in coordination with journalists and NGO partners in North Africa, we launched a multi-pronged awareness campaign about the plight of Eritrean refugees—including children and families—detained in Egypt’s abysmal police detention centres. Egypt has repeatedly deported refugees back to Eritrea despite the fact that many have disappeared upon arrival or suffered severe abuses or torture. […]
Arbitrary Detention and International Migrants Day
International Migrants Day, celebrated on 18 December, provides the world an opportunity to celebrate the invaluable contributions that migrants and their families make to their host communities across the globe. The positive and constructive roles that migrants play is reflected in the UN’s optimistic theme for this year’s day: “harnessing the potential of human mobility.” […]
A Comment in Time: Deconstructing the Discourse around Detention
On 17 December, the GDP’s Rachael Reilly moderated a panel on the advocacy potential of the Committee on Migrant Workers’ General Comment 5 on migrants right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention. Panelists at the webinar, which was hosted by Migrant Forum in Asia, included: Alvaro Botero, vice chair of the Committee on Migrant Workers; Akhator Joel […]
NEWSLETTER: The WGAD versus Arbitrary Immigration Detention, Egypt & Lithuania under Scrutiny, Externalisation and Detention
Welcome to the Global Detention Project’s roundup of current research, publications, and events. OUR LATEST EVENTS & PUBLICATIONS The Treatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers at the Lithuania-Belarus Border: Testimony Provided to the Committee against TortureOn 16 November 2021, the GDP and the Lithuania-based Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) made a joint oral statement during the 72nd session of […]
Externalisation, Immigration Detention, and the Committee on Migrant Workers
Detention has long played a key role in efforts to externalise immigration and asylum procedures. However, an unexpected development has resulted: The most poorly ratified international human rights treaty, the Migrant Workers Convention, has turned into a critical forum for advocating for the protection of the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees ensnared in offshore control regimes. […]
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as a Venue for Challenging Arbitrary Immigration Detention: A GDP Briefing with Elina Steinerte
The Global Detention Project (GDP) hosted a 2-hour training and information session with the Chair of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), Elina Steinerte (full video available below). The event, held on Zoom, was attended by approximately 60 migrant rights advocates representing some 40 civil society organizations from every region of the world. […]
Forced Migration Review: Special Issue on “Externalisation”
In Forced Migration Review issue 68’s main feature on Externalisation, authors examine the consequences for protection when states increasingly take action beyond their own borders to prevent the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers, including an article by the GDP’s Michael Flynn on how the efforts of wealthy countries to externalise migration and asylum controls have […]
Oral Submission: Testimony on Lithuania’s Treatment of Migrants at the Border with Belarus at the UN Committee against Torture’s 72nd Session
The Human Rights Monitoring Institute and the Global Detention Project presented reports about mistreatment and disappearances of migrants and asylum seekers detained near the border with Belarus at the 72nd Session of the UN Committee against Torture. […]
NEWSLETTER: October 2021 Newsletter: Turkey, Lithuania, the CMW and the Right to Liberty
OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS Immigration Detention in Turkey: Trapped at the Crossroad Between Asia and EuropeTurkey has one of the world’s largest migration-related detention systems, operating more than two dozen of removal centres with a capacity of nearly 16,000 in addition to ad hoc detention sites along its borders, airport transit zones, and police stations. A reluctant […]
