Global Detention Project Newsletter
January 2015
NEW GDP DETENTION PROFILE
Austria
In early 2014, Austria opened its first specialized immigration detention facility. The development comes after more than two decades of criticism from national and international observers, who have pressed the country not to detain migrants and asylum seekers in prisons and other criminal facilities. The opening, however, was accompanied by controversy because of the decision to outsource security and other services at the facility to a much-criticized private prison firm, G4S. The development also coincides with marked decreases in the numbers of people detained for immigration-related reasons, which have gone down by some 30 percent over the last five years, a trend observed in several other EU countries. Read profile.
GDP NEWS
Loterie Romande. The Global Detention Project recently received a grant from Loterie Romande, a lottery of the French-speaking region of Switzerland that was created to support civil society initiatives.
STAFF PUBLICATIONS & ACTIVITIES
Discipline and Punish? Analysis of the Purposes of Immigration Detention in Europe. By Izabella Majcher (Global Detention Project) and Clément de Senarclens (University of Neuchatel). AmeriQuests11(2), December 2014. Read.
Immigration detention in Europe: What are the facts? A new European Migration Network Study. Blog post by Izabella Majcher. EU Law and Analysis. December 2014. Read.
World Forum on Human Rights. Mariette Grange made a presentation entitled “La détention liée au statut migratoire: cadre juridique, spécificité et défis pour la recherche” at the World Forum on Human Rights held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 29 November 2014.
International Crime and Punishment Film Festival. The Global Detention Project, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund, participated in the 4th International Crime and Punishment Film Festival, held in Istanbul on 7-14 November. The theme of this year’s festival was migration. The GDP’s contribution included co-hosting a showing of the award-winning documentary film Vol spécial (Special Flight), which was followed by a panel discussion between the GDP’s Michael Flynn and the the film’s director Fernand Melgar, a member of the GDP’s Executive Committee. Also, as part of the festival’s academic program, Flynn gave a presentation entitled “Children in Immigration Detention: A Hidden Problem.” Information about the festival is available here.
PUBLICATIONS BY GDP MEMBERS & ADVISERS
Making Art in Immigration Detention. Blog post by Mary Bosworth (Oxford University), member of the GDP’s Academic Advisory Council, discussing art work produced by detainees at the UK’s Campfield House detention centre. Border Criminologies. 14 January 2015. Read.
Very Few Migrants Reaching Italy Apply for Asylum. Blog post by Niels Frenzen (University of Southern California), member of the GDP’s Academic Advisory Council. Migrants at Sea. 12 January 2015. Read.
New Approaches, Alternative Avenues and Means of Access to Asylum Procedures for Persons Seeking International Protection. By Elspeth Guild (Centre for European Policy Studies and member of the GDP’s Academic Advisory Council), Cathryn Costello, Madeline Garlick,Violeta Moreno-Lax, and Minos Mouzourakis. CEPS. 9 January 2015. Read.
Migrants and the Mediterranean: UN rights expert on human rights of migrants visits Malta to follow up on EU border management study. Statement released by François Crépeau (McGill University), member of the GDP’s Academic Advisory Council, in his capacity as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. UN Human Rights Council. 10 December 2014. Read.
A humanitarian crisis must have a global humanitarian response. Statement released by François Crépeau following a visit to Italy in December 2014 in his capacity as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. UN Human Rights Council. 5 December 2014. Read.
