OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS
Immigration Detention in the Baltics: A Regional View
The three Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were largely shielded from the impact of Europe’s “refugee crisis.” However, a cursory review of their detention policies, border control practices, and public discourses concerning immigration would seem to tell a different story: New fences are being built on the borders with Russia; detention capacity is expanding in all three countries; and officials often describe migration developments as “emergencies” even as the overall populations of the countries steadily decline.
With comparatively few arrivals and diminishingly small numbers of asylum seekers, the Baltic countries’ detention rates are generally lower than those of most other EU countries. Of the three, Latvia detains by far the most, 671 in 2016, which compares to roughly 100 in Estonia and 200 in Lithuania that year. Despite their small detainee populations, national and international human rights observers have repeatedly raised concerns about the detention practices in all three countries, as we underscore in this regional mini-series.
Amongst the key issues that we highlight are evolving provisions in legislation concerning the detention of children and asylum seekers; the lack of use of “alternatives to detention,” in part because officials see migrants as flight risks since most are deemed as trying to transit the Baltic region en route to other locations in Europe; and detention provisions that are not compliant with the EU Returns Directive.
Latvia: Giving “Accommodation” a Whole New Meaning
Lithuania: Detention and Denial Amidst Extreme Population Decline
Estonia: Better Conditions, Stricter Regime
NEWS AND ACTIVITIES
Gender-Responsive Migration Legislation, Policies, and Practices: Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
Women, girls, and gender-nonconforming individuals can face terrifying immigration detention conditions in every corner of the globe. This is happening despite numerous calls by government watchdogs and authoritative human rights bodies that states refrain from detaining such people. In our response to a questionnaire distributed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants in preparation for his upcoming report on “good practices or initiatives of gender-responsive migration legislation, policies and practices,” the GDP details numerous concerns about the detention of women, girls, and gender-nonconforming individuals and urges the Special Rapporteur to consider emphasising various actions that states should undertake. Read the full submission.
The Recast of the EU Returns Directive: Human Rights Lost Again?
In a blog post for the Refugee Law Initiative, GDP Research Izabella Majcher examines the recast Returns Directive and the trend in lowering protection of fundamental rights. Read the full article.
Open NGO Letter Regarding the Critical Funding Gap Affecting UN Human Rights Mechanisms and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Delays in payments by UN member states has led to the likely cancellation of UN treaty body sessions later this year. The GDP has joined hundreds of NGOs in signing an open letter urging UN member states to pay their UN dues, to prioritise funding for the UN’s human rights pillar, and to initiate discussions on how to ensure that UN human rights mechanisms are not disproportionately affected by budget cuts. Read the open letter.
GDP ON THE RECORD
- “Seeking Refuge, Legally, and Finding Prison,“ F. Cantú, New York Times, 2019.
- “Immigration Detention in the UK,” The Migration Observatory, May 2019.
- “Challenging the Externalised Obstruction of Asylum – The Application of the Right to Asylum to EU Cooperation with Libyan Coast Guards,” A. Reyhani et al, 2019.
- “The Ecuadorian Legal Framework and Humanitarian Immigration of Columbians of Cuenca: Where is the Gap?” E.H. Benitez and M. Rivera, The International Journal of Human Rights, 2019.
- “The Double Punishment of Criminal Inadmissibility for Immigrants,” S. Benslimane and D. Moffette, Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, 2019.
- “The Recast of the EU Returns Directive: Human Rights Lost Again?” I. Majcher, Refugee Law Initiative, May 2019.
- “Behind a Wall of Silence: Interpreting Services Within Immigration Detention in the United Kingdom,” A. Maniar, FITISPos International Journal, 2019.
- “Absolute Rightlessness Sur Place Through Excessive Externalisation – The Case of Libya,” A. Reyhani, 2019.
- “The Exercise of Power in a Closed Institution – Case of a Swedish Immigration Detention Centre,” E. Grabowska, Lund University, 2016.
- “No More Hieleras: Doe v. Kelly’s Fight for Constitutional Rights at the Border,” M. Marquez-Avila, U.C.L.A Law Review, 2019.
- “Children at the Border – Existing Tools for Effective Advocacy,” M. Thompson, Law and Contemporary Problems, 2019.
- “Multiculturalism as Multimodal Communication: A Semiotic Perspective,” A. Olteanu,Springer, 2019.
- “A Company Tried to Open an Immigration Detention Center in Wisconsin. A Community that Voted for Trump Said No – Again,” M. Perez, Journal Sentinel, 2019.
