LATEST PUBLICATIONS
Immigration Detention in Mexico: Between the United States and Central America
Mexico has one of the largest immigration detention systems in the world, employing several dozen detention centres—euphemistically called estaciones migratorias—and detaining tens of thousands of people every year. Intense pressure from the United States and continuing migration from turmoil-wracked Central America have helped drive up detention numbers, which surpassed 180,000 in 2019. In late 2020, the country adopted reforms to its migration law prohibiting migrant detention of all children, though many observers expressed scepticism over whether it would be respected. Read the full report.
NEWS + ACTIVITIES
Implementing the Non-Punishment Principle for Victims of Trafficking
The GDP’s Michael Flynn served as a moderator for a two-day expert consultation convened by the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons on 4-5 February aimed at informing the SR’s June 2021 report to the Human Rights Council. Read more about the preparations for the report here.
Using Detention to Talk About the Elephant in the Room
In an article for the International Journal of Law in Context, GDP Advisor Mariette Grange and former GDP Researcher Izabella Majcher discuss the evolution of multilateral processes on migration since the 1980s, with a focus on immigration detention as a growing response to migratory movements. Read more.
Lengthy Detention in New Zealand
Although New Zealand places comparatively few people in immigration detention, the country has faced criticism for imposing lengthy detention stays on asylum seekers and people in immigration enforcement procedures. Between 2015 and 2019, 86 detainees—held in prisons rather than dedicated immigration detention facilities—were confined for an average of 166 days, while 11 people spent more than 400 days in prison. During the pandemic, the country has received fresh criticism for its handling of immigration-related detention—particularly with regards to detainees’ prolonged detention stemming from COVID-19 travel restrictions. Read more about New Zealand’s detention policies here.
GDP ON THE RECORD
- “Malta: Mistreatment Claims, Ongoing Pressure Despite a Drop in Migrant Arrivals,” InfoMigrants, January 2021.
- “‘Nessuno ci guarda più’: Detenzione di migranti e Covid-19 in Italia [Nobody is Looking at us Any More: Migrant Detention and Covid-19 in Italy,]” Per I Diritti Umani, January 2021.
- “Desumana, desnecessária, dispendiosa: há que abolir a detenção de migrantes [Inhumane, Unnecessary, Costly: Detention of Migrants Must be Abolished,]” Publico, M. Duarte, January 2021.
- “A Welcome Reception? Interdiction, Detention and Deportation in the Dutch Caribbean,” Border Criminologies, N.D. Jones, January 2021.
- “Criminalisation of Kindness: Narratives of Legality in the European Politics of Migration Containment,” Third World Quarterly, G. Ben-Arieh and V. M. Heins, 2020.
- “Les (non) droits des travailleurs migrants : le système de parrainage, ou kafala au Qatar [The (Non) Rights of Migrant Workers: The Sponsorship System, or Kafala in Qatar,]” La Reference, December 2020.
- “Using Detention to Talk About the Elephant in the Room: The Global Compact for Migration and the Significance of its Neglect of the UN Migrant Workers Convention,” International Journal of Law in Context, M. Grange and I. Majcher, 2020.
- “The Reinvention of Immigration Detention in Italy in the Aftermath of the “Refugee Crisis”: A Study of Parliamentary Records (2013–2018),” Refugee Survey Quarterly, G. Campesi, 2020.
- “Temporality, Refugees, and Housing: The Effects of Temporary Assistance on Refugee Housing Outcomes in Italy,” Cities, S. Dotsey and A. Lumley-Sapanski, 2021.
- “O Papel da Suprema Corte Canadense em Prol da Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa Migrante: Subvertendo o Estado de Exceção Pelas Vias do Ativismo Judicial [The Canadian Supreme Court’s Role in Defending the Rights of the Migrant: Subverting the State of Exception Through the Ways of Judicial Activism,]” RDPC, E. da Luz Scherf et al, 2020.
- “Rapatriement prochain de harraga algériens de Bosnie [Upcoming Repatriation of Algerian Harraga from Bosnia,]” Le Jeune Independent, December 2020.
