Slovakia has been among the more outspoken opponents of the EU Migration Pact, adopted in April 2024, with the country’s new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico stating that Brussels “cannot order a country that it must accept, in the Slovak case, up to 300 migrants you know nothing about, or pay 20,000 euros for each […]
Pakistan: UNHCR and IOM Report Massive Spike in Detention Rates
Pakistan is one of the world’s largest refugee-hosting countries, with the majority of refugees coming from Afghanistan. The country has not implemented a national asylum system and it is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention. There have been numerous reports of refugees being arrested during raids, arbitrarily detained, and summarily deported. In 2023, […]
South Africa: Challenging Abusive Detention Practices in Court
Refugee rights groups are pursuing legal action against South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs in response to what it claims are unlawful arrests, detentions, and deportations of new asylum applicants. They denounce these practices as a violation of human rights, the country’s Constitution, and international law, including the principle of non-refoulement. A coalition of NGOs […]
Annual Report: Important Victories Amidst Inexorable Expansion
In the past year we have witnessed–and worked with our partners to help achieve–important victories limiting the use of indefinite immigration detention; at the same time, however, there has been an unmistakable entrenchment of detention as an enforcement tool as migration and refugee pressures grow in nearly every corner of the globe. […]
Türkiye: Submission to the Committee on Migrant Workers
38th Session, June 2024 – State Report Issues Related to Immigration Detention The Global Detention Project (GDP) and the International Refugee Rights Association (IRRA) welcome the opportunity to provide information relevant to the review of the Second Periodic Report of Türkiye during the 38thSession of the Committee on Migrant Workers. This submission focuses on the state party’s responses to the […]
UN Agency Adds Voice to Growing Global Clamour Over Canada’s Immigration Detention Practices
The Canadian government’s plans to use federal prisons for immigration detention has drawn the rebuke of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) as well as the ire of an international coalition of civil society groups, who have launched a petition demanding that Canada abandon the plans. The battle over prisons Canada is among […]
Viet Nam: Immigration Detention as Debtors Prison
There is little information available about Viet Nam’s immigration detention practices though people on online chat rooms and social media platforms have an occasion expressed dismay at the country’s “harsh” treatment of overstayers. There have also been reports about periodic crackdowns on irregular Chinese migrants, who are detained, fined, and then deported back to China, as well as of harassment and […]
![Many inmates of Thu Duc prison worked as labourers, securing reductions in their sentences. But some are still in detention over alleged unpaid debts [Chris Humphrey/Al Jazeera]](https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vietnam-prison-hard-labour.jpg.webp)
An EU-Lebanon Refugee Deal Amidst An Unprecedented Crackdown on Refugees
The EU’s recently signed deal with Lebanon to provide financial assistance for hosting refugees and boosting border security comes as Lebanese authorities pursue an “unprecedented” crackdown targeting Syrian refugees. Human rights groups fear that the deal will keep refugees out of Europe while facilitating their deportation to Syria, in violation of human rights obligations. In […]
United States: Immigration Detention Set to Expand Despite Growing Calls to Reduce Detainee Numbers Amidst Reports of Mistreatment and Terrible Detention Conditions
A number of civil society groups in the United States have recently published highly critical reports alleging abusive and inhuman conditions at privately operated immigration detention centres. These include reports of abuse and mistreatment of vulnerable people, medical neglect, and failure to provide access to legal assistance. Private prison operators are nevertheless planning important extensions […]
Lithuania: Reports of Arbitrary Detention, Physical Abuse, and Pushbacks
Recent reports highlight ongoing abuses of migrants and asylum seekers by Lithuanian border guards, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and pushbacks into Belarus. The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), a GDP partner in Lithuania, recently documented three cases involving unlawful restrictions of migrants’ liberty, abuses by Lithuanian authorities, and pushbacks to Belarus. According to their report, […]
