Private Prison Labour: Paradox or Possibility? Evaluating Modern-Day Systems and Establishing a Model Framework Through the Lens of the Forced Labour Convention. UCL Journal of Law and Jurisprudence , 8 (2) , Article 4. Overcrowding, deteriorating conditions, ever-increasing costs, recidivism. These are the terms that come to mind when thinking of the world’s punitive justice systems. Ostensibly, […]
Staff PublicationsArticles, blogs, books, chapters, op-eds, and other publications written by Global Detention Project staff members and advisers for journals, partner organisations, scholarly collaborations, or media outlets.
Articles, blogs, books, chapters, op-eds, and other publications written by Global Detention Project staff members and advisers for journals, partner organisations, scholarly collaborations, or media outlets.
Immigration Detention under the Global Compacts in the Light of Refugee and Human Rights Law Standards
In an article for International Migration, GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher explores how immigration detention is addressed in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and investigates the potential implications of the compacts on existing legal framework regulating the use of immigration detention. While Objective 13 of […]
The European Union Returns Directive and its Compatibility with International Human Rights Law
In her new book “The European Union Returns Directive and its Compatibility with International Human Rights Law: Analysis of Return Decision, Entry Ban, Detention, and Removal” (Brill, 2020), GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher undertakes a thorough human rights assessment of the EU Returns Directive. The overarching human rights framework, which circumscribes state prerogatives in the context […]
“Don’t Call the Essex 39 a ‘Tragedy’”
On 23 October, 39 people were found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Essex, South East England. The truck had crossed The Channel from Belgium – a route which is increasingly used by migrants seeking to enter the UK, as well as by trafficking networks. Initially, police said that the 31 men […]
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 […]
GCM Indicators: Objective 21: Cooperate in Facilitating Safe and Dignified Return and Readmission, as well as Sustainable Reintegration
As part of the Refugee Law Initiative’s blog series exploring the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher addresses Objective 21 (“Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration.”) Majcher proposes focusing on six indicators, which draw from the provisions of binding international treaties, including the Convention against […]
Commentary on the Global Compact’s Objective 21: Returns, Readmission, Reintegration
In mid-December, UN Member States will meet in Morocco to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. As part of a Refugee Law Initiative blog series assessing the final draft of the GCM, GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher examines the Compact’s Objective 21, concerning cooperation in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, […]
The Dilemmas of the International Organization for Migration
In June, Antonio Vitorino was elected Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Formerly a minister in the Portuguese government of the Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, Vitorino is only the second non-American director in the IOM’s history. Given the historical and political proximity between the IOM and the U.S. government, his election is a notable development. In this article for “The Conversation” (France), GDP Researcher Mariette Grange and Antoine Pécoud (Paris 13 University) examine the IOM’s relations with the U.S. and the organisation’s involvement in migration control “dirty work.” […]
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. […]
The EU Hotspot Approach: Hotspots and Plethora of Freedom-Restricting Measures
This themed blog series organized by GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher for the Oxford University-based Border Criminologies examines the EU hotspot approach from the perspective of the right to liberty and freedom of movement, highlighting the unclear division of roles and responsibilities between EU agencies and host member states, the blurred line between detention and reception, substandard material conditions, a lack of transparency, and differential treatment based on nationality, among a host of other concerns. […]
