Global Detention Project Newsletter
MAY 2017
NEW FROM THE GDP
Austria Immigration Detention Profile
Austria has sharply increased the number of people it places in immigration detention after years of declining detainee populations. While it continues the controversial practice of placing immigration detainees in “Police Detention Centres,” the country opened a new dedicated immigration detention centre in 2014, which is partly operated by the controversial multinational security company G4S. The country has also announced plans to significantly boost removals, focusing mainly on people from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Read profile here.
Belgium Immigration Detention Profile
Belgium has long received scrutiny for its immigration control policies, in particular its controversial use of forced deportation flights. However, the numbers of people placed in detention annually has declined substantially during the past 15 years, even as the detention of asylum seekers at borders has increased. The country has also pioneered the promotion of “alternatives to detention” for families. However, this policy suffered an important setback as the government announced that families would again be detained in closed centres starting in 2017. Read profile here.
GDP SUBMISSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: AUSTRALIA
Read the submission here.
Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review: ARGENTINA (in Spanish)
Joint submission for the Universal Periodic Review by ANDHES, CAREF, CELS, Centro de Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Nacional de Lanús, COPADI, GDP, IARPIDI and Red de Migrantes y Refugiados en Argentina. Read the submission here.
Statement to the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
The GDP’s Executive Director made a statement to the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries panel on “Private Military and Security Companies in Places of Deprivation of Liberty and Their Impact on Human Rights,” 27 April 2017. Read the statement here.
EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS
Putting Immigration Detention in Interdisciplinary Perspective
Michael Flynn published a 2-part essay for the Border Criminologies network at University of Oxford discussing lessons learned from the interdisciplinary study of immigration detention systems. Available here.
Statelessness and Immigration Detention
The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion interviewed the GDP’s Mariette Grange about the detention of stateless persons and the importance of international human rights standards in safeguarding the rights of this vulnerable population. Available here.
Border Securitization and Containment VS. Fundamental Rights: the European Union’s “Refugee Crisis”
GDP Associate Researcher Izabella Majcher’s article for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Available here.
Challenging Immigration Detention: Academics, Activists, and Policy-makers
Edited by Michael Flynn and Matthew Flynn (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2017)
Governments increasingly rely upon detention to control the movement of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. Approaching detention from an interdisciplinary perspective, this new edited volume brings together leading writers and thinkers to provide a greater understanding of why it is such an important social phenomenon and suggest ways to confront it locally and globally. More information available here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
“Walls, Borders, and Bridges: Law and Society in an Inter-Connected World”
The GDP has organized a session titled “Challenging Immigration Detention” at the annual International Meeting on Law and Society which will be held in Mexico City on 20-23 June. Participants on the panel will include Michael Flynn (GDP), Hindpal Singh Bhui (UK Inspectorate of Prisons), Niels Frenzen (USC Gould School of Law), Michael Young (University of Texas at Austin), Matthew Flynn (Georgia Southern University), and Denise Gilman (University of Texas at Austin). More information about the conference is available here.
“Mass Influx? Law, Policy and Large-Scale Movements of Refugees and Migrants”
Presentation by Izabella Majcher entitled “The EU Hotspot Approach and Expansion of De Facto Immigration Detention” at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) which will take place on 5-7 June 2017 at the University of London. More information is available here.
Annual Meeting of the International Detention Coalition
Geneva, 16 June 2017. More information is available here.
GDP ON THE RECORD
“Human Rights, Refugee Protest and Immigration Detention,” Hinger, S. (2017). In Border Criminologies. https://www.
“Urban scenes of citizenship: inventing the possibility of immigrants’ citizenship in Athens,” George Kandylis (March 2017). In Citizenship Studies Vol. 21 Issue 4. pp. 468-482. http://www.
“Social Workers as Collaborators? The Ethics of Working within Australia’s Asylum System,” Christopher Maylea, Asher Hirsch (April 2017) in Ethics and Social Welfare. pp. 1-19. http://www.tandfonline.
“On shipwrecks and sea nymphs: Fragments of Maltese hospitality,” Dylan Shaul (March 2017) in Hospitality & Society Vol. 7 Number 1. pp. 3-18(16). http://www.
“The Global Refugee Crisis: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications for Improving Public Attitudes and Facilitating Refugee Resettlement,” Victoria M. Esses, Leah K. Hamilton, Danielle Gaucher. (2017). in Social Issues and Policy Review. Vol. 11 Issue 1. pp. 78-123. http://onlinelibrary.
“The Legal Production of Illegality: Obstacles and Opportunities to Protect Undocumented Migrants in the Gulf States,” Elizabeth Frantz (2017) in Skilful Survivals: Irregular Migration to the Gulf. Edited by Fargues Philippe and Nasra Shah. Gulf Research Centre Cambridge. http://
“The contemporary refugee crisis: an overview of mental health challenges,” Derrick Silove, Peter Ventevogel, Susan Rees. (May 2017) in World Psychiatry Vol. 16 Issue 2. pp. 130–139 http://onlinelibrary.
“Cosmopolitan Democracy and the Detention Immigrant Families,” Rebecca Sharpless. (Winter 2017). In New Mexico Law Review 47 Rev. 19. pp. https://litigation-
“Global Justice, International Law and Development,” Paul Battersby and Rebekah Farrell (2017) In International Development: A Global Perspective on Theory and Practice. Edited by Paul Battersby and Ravi Roy. SAGE Publications Ltd. pp. 373 – 391.
“Detention of Minors in EU Return Procedures: Assessing the Extent to Which Polish Law Is Reflective of the EU Migration Regime and International Human Rights Standards,” Agnieszka M. Biel (2017) in Central and Eastern European Migration Review. pp. 1-34 http://www.ceemr.uw.edu.
“A Comparative Analysis of Statelessness Determination Procedures in 10 EU State,” Katia Bianchini. (2017) in Int J Refugee Law (2017) 29 (1): 42-83. https://academic.oup.com/
“The Protection of Asylum Seekers in Australian-Pacific Offshore Processing: The Legal Deficit of Human Rights in a Nodal Reality” in Human Rights Law Review (2017) 17 (1): 33-71. https://academic.oup.
“A Lesser Evil? The European Agenda on Migration and the Use of Aid Funding for Migration Control,” Davitti, Daria and La Chimia, Annamaria, (April 11, 2017). UCD Working Papers in Law, Criminology & Socio-Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07/17. https://ssrn.com/abstract=
“Chinese Pressure to Repatriate Asylum Seekers: An International Law Analysis,” Andrew Wolman. (2017) in Int J Refugee Law (2017) 29 (1): 84-109. https://academic.oup.
“UN Principles on the Right of Anyone Deprived of Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before Court,” Andenas, Mads and Tofte, Tobias Skurdal (April 26, 2017). University of Oslo Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2017-19. https://ssrn.com/abstract=
“Border Criminologies and the Changing Nature of Penal Power,” Mary Bosworth. (2017). in The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Edited by Alison Liebling, Shadd Maruna, Lesley McAra. Oxford University Press.
