Detention has long played a key role in efforts to externalise immigration and asylum procedures. However, an unexpected development has resulted: The most poorly ratified international human rights treaty, the Migrant Workers Convention, has turned into a critical forum for advocating for the protection of the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees ensnared in offshore control regimes. […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
In late September, Tunisian human rights organisations shared footage of Tunisian officials apparently transporting a group of migrants to the border with Libya and abandoning them in the desert. The group, who had initially been intercepted at sea, included approximately one hundred men, women and children, including at least three pregnant women. One of the […]
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as a Venue for Challenging Arbitrary Immigration Detention: A GDP Briefing with Elina Steinerte
The Global Detention Project (GDP) hosted a 2-hour training and information session with the Chair of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), Elina Steinerte (full video available below). The event, held on Zoom, was attended by approximately 60 migrant rights advocates representing some 40 civil society organizations from every region of the world. […]
Algeria: Covid-19 and Detention
As increasing numbers of Algerians seek to flee their country and make the hazardous passage across the Mediterranean to Spain, concerns are growing about the plight of migrants and refugees located in Algeria’s land borders, particularly those shared with Morocco and Niger, which have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and political tensions across […]
Dominican Republic: Covid-19 and Detention
There has been a sharp uptick in anti-migrant policies and practices in the Dominican Republic in recent months, which have been fuelled in part by COVID-related restrictions and growing public backlash aimed at Haitians. Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a long history of political and racial tensions, often related to migration pressures. The Committee […]
Forced Migration Review: Special Issue on “Externalisation”
In Forced Migration Review issue 68’s main feature on Externalisation, authors examine the consequences for protection when states increasingly take action beyond their own borders to prevent the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers, including an article by the GDP’s Michael Flynn on how the efforts of wealthy countries to externalise migration and asylum controls have […]
Oral Submission: Testimony on Lithuania’s Treatment of Migrants at the Border with Belarus at the UN Committee against Torture’s 72nd Session
The Human Rights Monitoring Institute and the Global Detention Project presented reports about mistreatment and disappearances of migrants and asylum seekers detained near the border with Belarus at the 72nd Session of the UN Committee against Torture. […]
Bulgaria: Covid-19 and Detention
In early November, Bulgarian authorities sent 350 additional military personnel to its border with Turkey because of concerns over increasing migration and refugee pressures. The Bulgarian Interior Ministry reported that during January-September 2021, more than 6,500 people were detained after entering the country irregularly. This was a threefold increase compared to the same period in […]
Belarus: Covid-19 and Detention
The escalating crisis on the Belarus-Polish border has spurred a growing number of countries to accuse Belarus of weaponizing migrant and refugee movements, using them as pawns to destabilise the European Union. At the same time, there is growing international outrage over Poland’s response to the situation–as well as that of other countries that border […]
Mexico: Covid-19 and Detention
Mexico’s Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) reported that by the end of September 2021, a total of 108,195 asylum applications had been submitted since the start of the year, the highest figure reported by Mexican authorities. Andrés Ramirez, the general coordinator for COMAR highlighted that this figure is already 53.8 percent higher than the previous […]
