Abdul Aziz Muhamat languished in detention on Manus Island for nearly six years, but throughout that time he was an indefatigable advocate for those trapped in Australia’s offshore detention system. Today, Aziz lives in Switzerland, where he was granted asylum after receiving Geneva’s prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2019. The GDP spoke to Aziz about his experiences, challenges he sees in making advocacy more effective, and his plans for the future. […]
Publications & Events
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW: Immigration Detention in India, Morocco, Poland, South Africa
In March, the GDP worked with partners in four countries—Poland, India, South Africa, and Morocco—to prepare submissions for the 41st Session of the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR). […]
SOUTH AFRICA: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
For the 4th cycle UPR review of South Africa, the GDP teamed up with Lawyers for Human Rights to highlight numerous shortcomings in South Africa’s treatment of refugees and migrants. Despite important progress that has been made in implementing judicial control over immigration detention operations, the submission highlights South Africa’s failure to improve poor detention conditions and prevent abuses in the Lindela privately-run immigration detention centre. […]
MOROCCO: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Morocco has consistently faced criticism for its treatment of migrants and refugees. In particular, collaboration between Europe and Morocco has increased the vulnerability of migrants to a range of human rights abuses, including forced displacements and ad hoc detention. In a joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review, the GDP and GADEM highlight key areas of concern and urge the Government of Morocco to take numerous vital steps to protect the rights of non-citizens. […]
INDIA: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
The GDP’s submission on India, made in partnership with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), highlights human rights concerns within India’s immigration detention system, including lack of judicial review and indefinite detention, lack of legal aid for detainees, and poor detention conditions. […]
Joint Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Preparation for its Visit to Poland
The submission highlights concerns regarding Poland’s discriminatory detention practices of non-Ukrainian refugees, inhuman and degrading conditions in “Guarded Centres for Foreigners,” abuses of non-citizens on the border with Belarus, and the country’s increasing detention of children for migration purposes. […]
NEWSLETTER: A Tale of Two Refugee Crises
MARCH 2022 Welcome to the Global Detention Project’s roundup of current research, publications, and events. For any questions about our content, please contact us at: admin [at] globaldetentionproject [dot] org OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS A Tale of Two Refugee Crises By Rachael Reilly & Michael FlynnInter Press Service, 7 March 2022During the 2015 refugee “crisis” that drove […]
POLAND: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
41st Session of the UPR Working Group, 7-18 November 2022 Issues Related to Immigration-Related Detention and Asylum This submission focuses on human rights concerns relating to Poland’s treatment of migrants, refugees, and people seeking asylum, including its use of immigration detention. This submission is made taking into account the millions of refugees who have crossed into […]
The UN Committee on Migrant Workers as a Venue for Protecting the Rights of Migrant Detainees: A GDP Briefing with CMW Member Pablo Ceriani
The second in the GDP’s ongoing series of webinars on international human rights mechanisms and their application to situations of migration-related detention. […]
A Tale of Two Refugee Crises
When the 2015 refugee “crisis” drove more than a million Syrians towards Europe, the EU justified detaining these refugees for up to 18 months. Less than two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more than one million people have already fled into neighbouring countries—but don’t expect Brussels to call for their detention this time. […]
