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, […]
Country ReportsIn-depth narrative reports examining trends and developments in migration-related detention laws and practices.
In-depth narrative reports examining trends and developments in migration-related detention laws and practices.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Immigration Detention in Niger: Expanding the EU-Financed Zone of Suffering Through “Penal Humanitarianism”?
Immigration Detention in Niger (2019 Report): Niger has been a principal migration hub for people criss-crossing the Sahel region of Africa for generations. It has also served as an important transit country for migrants and asylum seekers on the Central Mediterranean route through Libya to Europe. More recently, the country has begun receiving third-country nationals who […]
Immigration Detention in Slovenia: Where They Call Detention a “Limitation of Movement”
Immigration Detention in Slovenia (2019 Report): A key transit country for refugees and migrants travelling the “Balkan Route,” Slovenia witnessed a significant increase in the number of border crossings during the “refugee crisis.” Citing fears of a “humanitarian catastrophe,” the country tightened immigration controls, erected wire fencing along its border with Croatia, and introduced stringent new […]
Immigration Detention in Slovakia: Punitive Conditions Paid for by the Detainees
Immigration Detention in Slovakia (2019 Report): Since the onset of the “refugee crisis,” Slovakia has pursued restrictive immigration policies and employed anti-migrant rhetoric, despite the fact that the country has not faced the same migratory pressures as its European neighbours. Rarely granting alternatives to detention due to strict eligibility criteria, non-citizens are held in facilities that […]
Immigration Detention in the Czech Republic: “We Will Not Accept Even One More Refugee”
The Czech Republic (Czechia) became an important transit country for asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe during the height of the “refugee crisis.” Like in its Visegrad neighbours, this new-found status spurred a sharp public backlash in the country, which was fed by anti-migrant political rhetoric. The government significantly ramped up the country’s detention capacity […]
Immigration Detention in France: Longer, More Widespread, and Harder to Contest
France has one of Europe’s oldest and more widespread administrative immigration detention regimes, which extends from continental Europe to overseas territories in the Indian Ocean and the Americas. Nearly 47,000 people were placed in detention during 2017, about half of whom were detained in facilities located in the outré-mer. The country has budgeted more than […]
