Earlier this month, it came to light that due to delays in payments from UN member states and travel budget cuts for UN representatives, six of the UN human rights treaty bodies are facing severe and unexpected budget cuts that are likely to result in the cancellation of the reviews of states parties scheduled for […]
Publications & Events
Immigration Detention in Latvia: Giving “Accommodation” a Whole New Meaning
Immigration Detention in Latvia (2019 Report): Although Latvia does not experience significant migratory pressures, the number of immigration detainees and the average length of detention have steadily increased. In 2017, the country opened a second detention facility, misleadingly called an “accommodation centre.” The law provides for the detention of non-citizens for up to 10 days without […]
Immigration Detention in Lithuania: Detention and Denial Amidst Extreme Population Decline
Immigration Detention in Lithuania (2019 Report): Asylum applications in Lithuania have decreased significantly in the last few years even as entry refusal rates at the country’s borders have skyrocketed, increasing by some 80 percent since 2013. The country’s restrictive asylum legislation, which provides for the detention of asylum seekers, has received criticism from several UN human […]
UN Committee on Migrant Workers: Draft General Comment No. 5
In April, the GDP submitted information to the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families (CMW) following a call for stakeholders to provide inputs on a detailed questionnaire to be used in drafting General Comment No.5 on Migrants’ Rights to Liberty and Freedom from Arbitrary Detention. The CMW […]
Immigration Detention in Bulgaria: Fewer Migrants and Refugees, More Fences
Immigration Detention in Bulgaria (2019 Report): Although the number of irregular non-citizens apprehended in Bulgaria has plummeted in recent years, detention remains a key tool in the country’s response to migration and asylum flows. It has also spent some 85 million EUR to construct a fence along its border with Turkey. Bulgaria’s detention centres reportedly lack […]
NEWSLETTER: April 2019
✅Shrinking space for independent monitoring in Croatia
✅Bulgaria’s reliance upon detention
✅The year in review – the GDP Annual Report
✅ Objective 21 of the Global Compact for Migration […]
NEWSLETTER: Immigration Detention Across the Globe – The GDP 2018 Annual Report
Last summer, people across the globe expressed outrage as U.S. immigration officials forcibly separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Overlooked in much of the criticism was the fact that children are detained for immigration reasons in dozens of countries across the globe, all of which—with the notable exception of the United States—have […]
GCM Indicators: Objective 21: Cooperate in Facilitating Safe and Dignified Return and Readmission, as well as Sustainable Reintegration
As part of the Refugee Law Initiative’s blog series exploring the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher addresses Objective 21 (“Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration.”) Majcher proposes focusing on six indicators, which draw from the provisions of binding international treaties, including the Convention against […]
Immigration Detention in Croatia: Shrinking Space for Independent Monitoring
Immigration Detention in Croatia (2019 Report): Traditionally a transit country for people attempting to reach Western Europe, Croatia took on new importance for refugees and migrants in late 2015 when the main migrant route shifted through the country. Since then, the government has grown increasingly security-focused, albeit while maintaining a humanitarian narrative. Non-citizens may be […]
Consultation of the UN Network on Migration with Civil Society
Consultation of the UN Network on Migration with Civil Society Geneva 4 April 2019 On 4 April, the GDP participated in the inaugural “Consultation of the UN Network on Migration with Civil Society.” The Network on Migration was established by the UN to assist Member States in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular […]
