Malaysia’s immigration enforcement regime—including detention, forced removals, criminal prosecution, and corporal punishment—is one of the world’s more punitive, arbitrary, and harmful systems. In a submission to the UPR, the GDP and APRRN highlight areas of particular concern. […]
Arbitrary detention
Trapped Between Borders: Tunisia’s Alarming Treatment of Sub-Saharan Migrants
Tunisia has come under renewed criticism from rights groups after authorities rounded up sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers and forcefully relocated them to a buffer zone between the Tunisian and Libyan border. Videos shared online show men, women, and children–some with injuries–stranded close to the sea, reportedly without any food or water. Surging Discrimination According […]
Chile: Human Rights Monitoring Bodies Denounce Proposed Legal Reforms Increasing Detention Measures for Undocumented Migrants and Asylum Seekers
In a communication to Chile, a group of UN experts have condemned proposed reforms to the country’s migration and asylum legislation. If approved, the reforms would provide criminal penalties for irregular entry and stay, including prison sentences and fines, and increase administrative detention measures for people awaiting deportation. The effort also reflects policy proposals in […]
A Missed Opportunity in Japan
On 7 March, Japan’s cabinet passed a bill amending the country’s immigration and asylum legislation. The bill, which has been slated by rights groups, reinforces the country’s ability to indefinitely detain migrants and asylum seekers. It is now due to be voted on by the country’s parliament. With regards to detention, the amendment bill to […]
ITALY: Human Rights Court Rules Against “Hotspot” Detention
In an important ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found that Italy breached Articles 3, 4, and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in its treatment of four Tunisian claimants who were detained and deported in October 2017. In October 2017, four Tunisians attempted to travel to Italy from […]
Lithuania: Follow-Up Report to the UN Committee Against Torture
The Human Rights Monitoring Institute and the Global Detention Project jointly issued an alternative follow-up report to the UN Committee on Torture (CAT) with regards to the recommendations contained in Paragraph 12 of the committee’s Concluding Observations CAT/C/LTU/CO/4 on the fourth periodic report of Lithuania. […]
Mandatory Detention for all Irregular Arrivals, and Funding a Detention Centre in France? The Latest from the UK
Over the past week, the UK has proposed a number of controversial and extraordinary measures aimed at stopping irregular migration, including proposing new legislation that imposes mandatory detention for anyone crossing the Channel by boat as well as a joint initiative with France that includes helping pay for a new detention centre there. On 7 […]
“THIS IS A SLOW DEATH”: An Urgent Appeal on the Plight of Afghan Refugees Indefinitely and Arbitrarily Detained in the UAE
For a year and a half, thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban persecution have been trapped in a de-facto detention facility in the United Arab Emirates. Evacuated from Afghanistan by private actors, the refugees have languished in prolonged arbitrary detention at an emergency evacuation compound in Abu Dhabi called the “Emirates Humanitarian City”. Evacuated, But […]
Asylum Seeker’s Death Highlights Brutal Impact of Thailand’s Detention Policies
The recent death of a Uyghur asylum seeker detained in the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre (Suan Phlu) has prompted renewed calls for Thailand to release a group of 49 ethnic Uyghurs who have now been detained in the country for nine years. Aziz Abdullah, 49, died on 11 February after he collapsed in a cell […]
GDP Webinar: The Many Tools of OPCAT for Preventing Harmful Migration-Related Detention
The third instalment of the GDP’s webinar series on how civil society organisations can mobilise international and regional human rights monitors to protect the rights of detained refugees and migrants focuses on the various mechanisms established by the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) that can help prevent human rights violations in migration-related detention, including the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) and National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs). […]
