Immigration Detention in South Africa: Stricter Control of Administrative Detention, Increasing Criminal Enforcement of Migration

Long an important destination for migrants and refugees from across Africa and Asia, South Africa has increasingly viewed cross border movements through the lens of national security and criminality. The country’s Border Management Act, adopted in 2020, reflects this embrace of a securitisation agenda, say observers, who worry that the country’s policies will encourage an […]

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Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture: Austria

The GDP is pleased to provide the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) the following submission in preparation for its visit to Austria in 2021. The submission concerns the detention of migrants and refugees. As such, it is informed by the CPT’s relevant standards as included in “Foreign Nationals Detained Under Aliens Legislation” (7th General Report of the CPT, CPT/Inf (97)10, 1997) and “Safeguards for Irregular Migrants Deprived of their Liberty” (19th General Report of the CPT, CPT/Inf (2009)27, 2009). […]

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Border Criminologies Panel on “Monitoring Detention and Borders”

As part of the Border Criminologies three-day online conference “Landscapes of Border Control and Immigration Detention in Europe,” the GDP’s executive director will chair a panel on monitoring detention and borders, which will include representatives from several regional and international human rights and detention monitoring institutions. The full line-up of speakers will be confirmed in coming days – but registration for the conference is now open. […]

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Immigration Detention in Canada: Progressive Reforms and Missed Opportunities

In recent years, Canada has adopted both progressive refugee policies and restrictive border control measures, including agreeing to accept more refugees than other countries while at the same time adopting policies that restrict asylum eligibility. Canada’s immigration detention system has also continued to attract criticism, particularly because of its persistent use of prisons for immigration purposes, the carceral environments of its dedicated immigration detention centres, and its failure to adopt a maximum time limit for immigration detention, leaving some detainees facing indefinite detention. […]

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GDP Participates in Informal Meeting Held by the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers

On 14 April, the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers (CMW) held an informal meeting with states and other stakeholders, in which participants discussed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants and ratification of the Convention, among other topics. During the meeting, committee members emphasised the pandemic’s disproportionate impact upon migrant workers […]

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2020 Annual Report

As we look back at 2020, the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on the lives of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and other vulnerable non-citizens across the globe appears to overshadow all else. But this Annual Report reveals that even as we sought to steady the GDP ship through this storm, we managed to make important advancements in our core objectives and outputs. […]

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