Immigration Detention in Portugal (2019 Report): Unlike most EU states, Portugal has welcomed the arrival of refugees—even after the onset of the “refugee crisis” in 2015—and has announced several ambitious resettlement schemes. On the other hand, Portugal’s detention policies have been the subject of repeated criticism. Asylum seekers lodging applications at ports of entry are systematically […]
Publications & Events
Privatising Migration: A Solution for the European Union?
Privatising Migration: A Solution for the European Union? University of Nottingham, 17-18 June 2019 The trend towards outsourcing migration control operations—including to private companies, international organisations, militias, and other non-state actors—has helped states to distance themselves from, and evade, human rights obligations. In light of the documented abuses that have occurred at the hands […]
The Externalisation of Refugee Policies in Australia and Europe: The Need for a Comparative Interdisciplinary Approach
The Externalisation of Refugee Policies in Australia and Europe: The Need for a Comparative Interdisciplinary Approach Prato, 12-13 June 2019 Efforts by major destination countries to evade their obligations to refugees and other non-citizens are leading to the creation of burgeoning detention regimes on the periphery of the Global North. However, as states increasingly […]
Immigration Detention in Malta: “Betraying” European Values?
Immigration Detention in Malta (2019 Report): Malta’s heavy-handed response to irregular maritime arrivals—including refusing to allow rescue ships to dock and assisting Libyan authorities in intercepting asylum boats—has placed the country at the centre of a bitter EU-wide debate concerning search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. This restrictive approach is also reflected in its detention […]
RLI 4th Annual Conference: Rethinking the “Regional” in Refugee Law and Policy
RLI 4th Annual Conference: Rethinking the “Regional” in Refugee Law and Policy London, 3-5 June 2019 On 3-5 June, GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher participated in the 4th Annual Conference of the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI), whose theme this year was “Rethinking the ‘Regional’ in Refugee Law and Policy.” Majcher presented her work on the […]
Immigration Detention in Estonia: Better Conditions, Stricter Regime
Immigration Detention in Estonia (2019 Report): Largely shielded from immigration pressures due to its geography, Estonia has one of the lowest migrant-apprehension rates in the European Union and received the fewest asylum applications in 2018. Nevertheless, public discourse about migrants and foreigners is heavily marked by fear and animosity. Estonia operates one dedicated immigration detention centre, […]
NEWSLETTER: May 2019
OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS Immigration Detention in the Baltics: A Regional View The three Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were largely shielded from the impact of Europe’s “refugee crisis.” However, a cursory review of their detention policies, border control practices, and public discourses concerning immigration would seem to tell a different story: New fences are being built on the […]
The Recast of the EU Returns Directive: Human Rights Lost Again?
In the EU response to the so-called refugee crisis, it was the return policy, rather than refugee protection, that received most prominence. The European Commission (EC) argued that promoting the effectiveness of returns would help solve the “crisis,” – and this “effectiveness” related to the number of returns, rather than compliance with fundamental rights. Although […]
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
The Global Detention Project (GDP) welcomes the opportunity to provide this input to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants ahead of his forthcoming report to the 74th session of the General Assembly on “good practices or initiatives of gender-responsive migration legislation, policies and practices.” […]
Open NGO Letter to all Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva and New York
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 […]
