Challenging Migrant Detention: Human Rights, Advocacy and Mental Health

Notions of the unwanted “other,” the “illegal” migrant, and the “bogus” refugee are increasingly prominent in public discourse, lending support to stringent border control policies whereby states are increasingly relying upon the use of detention to control the movement of foreigners. The detrimental impact of these trends on the health and wellbeing of migrants and […]

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Immigration Detention in Canada: Important Reforms, Ongoing Concerns

Although Canada has experienced increasing immigration pressures, including receiving in 2017 the highest number of asylum claims in its history, the country has not witnessed the same acrimonious public debate over immigration seen elsewhere. It has adopted important reforms, including the introduction of a National Immigration Detention Framework aimed at improving detention conditions and reducing […]

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Protecting the Rights of Migrants: International Norms Facing Contemporary Challenges

GDP Researcher Mariette Grange gave a workshop to government representatives, academics, representatives of international and non-governmental organisations, and representatives of national human rights institutions as part of the “Protecting the Rights of Migrants: International Norms Facing Contemporary Challenges” course in Sanremo, Italy. Organised by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) in partnership with the Organisation Internationale […]

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Immigration Detention in Denmark: Where Officials Celebrate the Deprivation of Liberty of “Rejected Asylum Seekers”

Denmark has pursued increasingly restrictive immigration and asylum policies. During the past three years, the country has adopted some 70 immigration-related amendments aimed at intensifying restrictions, dramatically cut back its asylum recognition rate, and called for detaining as many failed refugees as possible. Observers have repeatedly criticised the penitentiary-like conditions of Denmark’s main immigration detention […]

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May 2018 Newsletter

Welcome to the Global Detention Project’s May 2018 newsletter. For any questions about our content, please contact us at: admin@globaldetentionproject.org  OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS   Immigration Detention in Denmark: Where Officials Cheer the Deprivation of Liberty of “Rejected Asylum Seekers” Denmark has pursued increasingly restrictive immigration and asylum policies. During the past three years, the country has adopted […]

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The Effectiveness of the EU Return Policy at All Costs: The Coercive Use of Administrative Pre-Removal Detention 

In February 2017, the European Commission (EC) adopted a specific Recommendation to guide EU states in the interpretation of the Returns Directive, stressing that detention can be essential in enhancing the effectiveness of the return system. However, despite its administrative label, pre-removal detention as interpreted by the EC contains punitive elements. GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher […]

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Ad-Hoc Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture: France

France has one of Europe’s oldest and most widespread immigration detention systems, and within the Council of Europe, it detains the largest number of non-citizens—in 2016, it placed a record 46,000 foreigners in detention. However, during the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture’s (CPT) last visit to France in 2015, members did not visit […]

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April 2018 Newsletter

  Welcome to the Global Detention Project’s April Newsletter. For any questions about our content, please contact us at:  admin@globaldetentionproject.org    OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS   Immigration Detention in Luxembourg: Systematic Deprivation of Liberty Although Luxembourg has a very small immigration detention system, the number of detainees has risen in recent years. Since opening a dedicated detention […]

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Critiquing Zones of Exception: Actor-Oriented Approaches Explaining the Rise of Immigration Detention

Immigration policy has catapulted to the forefront of public debate around the world as governments resort to increasingly restrictive measures to block migrants and refugees. While severe border policies are by no means new, this surge in migration control raises questions about the forces driving national policies. This chapter in the new book Immigration Policy in the Age of Punishment advances an actor-oriented analysis that views detention systems as complex organisations that rely on deeply rooted institutional structures to buttress their existence, multiple sources of financing to grow operations, and support from a broad array of social actors. […]

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Immigration Detention in Luxembourg: Systematic Deprivation of Liberty

Immigration Detention in Luxembourg: Although Luxembourg has a very small immigration detention system, the number of detainees has risen in recent years. Since opening a dedicated detention facility in 2011, observers have noted a general improvement in material conditions. On the other hand, detention appears to be systematically applied as officials regularly conclude that apprehended migrants […]

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