20th Anniversary Conference of the Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Mexico City, 12-13 November 2019 On 12-13 November, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (SRHRM) held an event in Mexico City (at the Universidad Iberoamericana), commemorating the mandate’s 20 years of work protecting the […]
NEWSLETTER: Rights Abuses in Turkey and Italy
OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS Immigration Detention in Turkey: A Serial Human Rights Abuser and Europe’s Refugee Gatekeeper Turkey has long served as Europe’s reluctant—if opportunistic—gatekeeper for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from across the Near East and Asia. This role was dramatically put on display in the wake of the refugee “crisis” in 2015 and remains an […]
“Don’t Call the Essex 39 a ‘Tragedy’”
On 23 October, 39 people were found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Essex, South East England. The truck had crossed The Channel from Belgium – a route which is increasingly used by migrants seeking to enter the UK, as well as by trafficking networks. Initially, police said that the 31 men […]
Turkey: A Serial Human Rights Abuser and Europe’s Refugee Gatekeeper
Immigration Detention in Turkey (2019 Report): Turkey has long served as Europe’s reluctant and opportunistic gatekeeper for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from across the Near East and Asia. This role was dramatically put on display in the wake of the refugee “crisis” in 2015 and remains an important flashpoint in the country’s relations with […]
Italy: Complicit in Grave Human Rights Abuse?
Immigration Detention in Italy (2019 Report): An important European destination for asylum seekers and migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa, Italy has been an aggressive proponent of draconian migration control practices, spurring accusations that the country has been complicit in grave human rights violations. During the tenure of notorious former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Italy […]
Joint Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture: North Macedonia
The GDP and MYLA are pleased to provide the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) the following submission in preparation for its visit to North Macedonia in 2019. The submission concerns detention of migrants and refugees. […]
Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Croatia
During the 2nd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of Croatia (22nd session, May 2015), the immigration detention policies and practices of Croatia do not appear to have been raised. However, as the GDP has documented in its reports on Croatia, as early as the mid-2000s, international and regional human rights observers have documented serious concerns about the country’s immigration detention practices. […]
Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Bulgaria
Bulgaria has served as a transit country into the European Union (EU). While it received an important number of arrivals during the refugee “crisis,” the number of irregular non-citizens apprehended in the country has decreased dramatically, including a 90 percent drop between 2015 and 2017. Despite this decrease, immigration detention has remained a key tool in Bulgaria’s response to migration and asylum flows, in addition to other measures such as the construction of a border fence. […]
Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Libya
Since the beginning of the 2011 civil war in Libya, the country has experienced on-going armed conflict between rival militias and government forces. The resulting lawlessness has enabled armed groups, criminal gangs, smugglers, and traffickers to control much of the flow of migrants, sometimes with the direct backing of Italy and other European countries. As the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recently concluded, “Despite the overwhelming evidence of human rights violations and abuses, Libyan authorities have thus far appeared largely unable or unwilling to put an end to violations and abuses committed against migrants and refugees.” […]
Immigration detention In Ireland (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2019 visit to Ireland)
Immigration detention (Read full CPT report) 24. In the course of its previous visits to Ireland, the CPT has reiterated that a prison is bydefinition not a suitable place in which to detain someone who is neither suspected nor convicted ofa criminal offence. In those cases where it is deemed necessary to deprive persons of […]
