Global Detention Project Newsletter
June 2016
NEW COUNTRY PROFILES
New Zealand
New Zealand has adopted stringent laws providing for immigration detention, including the detention of asylum seekers and children in cases of “mass” boat arrivals. The country has also lauded Australia’s offshore detention practices, saying they could help deter asylum seekers.
Angola
Angola has vigorously pursued a policy of expelling undocumented migrants for “national security” reasons, claiming that there are more than half a million people in the country illegally who are part of a “silent invasion.” The country has opened several dedicated immigration facilities, where thousands of non-nationals are detained every year to await removal, often in extremely degrading and violent conditions.
NEW SUBMISSIONS
GDP Submission on France to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW)
64th session (4 – 22 July 2016)
EVENTS & SPECIAL REPORTS
“Illegal detention of migrant children in Switzerland: a status report”
June 2016
Terre des Hommes released a major study on the immigration detention of children in all 26 Swiss Cantons. To complete the study, Terre des Hommes contracted the GDP to conduct a three-month-long investigation targeting all relevant federal and cantonal authorities with specific questions related to the detention of children. The final published report employed the GDP’s findings and methods. The report received widespread attention in Switzerland, including among the press and in Parliament. See below a partial list of press reports covering the study:
- 24heures.ch, “Des migrants de 15 à 18 ans sont placés en détention administrative en Suisse”
- Tagblatt, “142 jugendliche Asylsuchende 2015 inhaftiert”
- Blick, “Hilfsorganisation kritisiert Ausschaffungshaft für
- Minderjährige,”
- News, “Besserer Schutz für minderjährige Migranten”
“Human Rights, Business, and Immigration Detention”
16 June 2016, UN Human Rights Council
The GDP, No Business in Detention, and the Human Rights Law Centre discussed the growing involvement of private companies in immigration detention centres at this Side Event at the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
“Public Launch of the GDP’s Online Database”
14 June 2016, UN Human Rights Council
The GDP co-hosted a parallel event at the the UN Human Rights Council at which we presented the GDP’s new website and online database. The event, titled “Tracking Immigration Detention Data Globally: An Introduction to the Global Detention Project Online Database,” was co-hosted by Franciscans International, Edmund Rice International, Destination Justice, and the International Commission of Jurists.
Multi-stakeholder meeting on the Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants in Large Movements
1 June 2016, Geneva
The GDP participated in a Multi-stakeholder meeting on the Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants in Large Movements organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants
GDP ON THE RECORD
“The Immigration Detention Puzzle”
Michael Flynn (GDP), Open Society Foundation “Voices,” 17 June 2016
“Everybody needs good neighbors: Australia’s immigration detention policies in a global context,” The Development Policy Center (Australia), 14 June 2016
Interview with the GDP on how Australia’s detention policies differ from those of other peer countries.
Why Are Shorten and Turnbull’s Refugee Policies So Frustratingly Similar?
Vice.com, 14 June 2016
“All at sea: Libyan detention centres at crisis point”
IRIN, 1 June 2016
“Situation of migrants in transit”
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
