Japan’s immigration detention system has recently come under renewed scrutiny. In particular, the 6 March death of a 33 year old Sri Lankan woman–Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali–who died in the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau Detention House following months of health complaints, sparked a wave of criticism and drew international attention. Sandamali had been detained since […]
Detention Data
Saint Kitts and Nevis: Covid-19 and Detention
Saint Kitts and Nevis (the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis) is a small archipelago nation made up of two islands located in the western Caribbean (West Indies). With a population of approximately 52,000, the country is the smallest in the Western Hemisphere. On 31 March 2020, following the confirmation of its first two COVID-19 […]
United States: Covid-19 and Detention
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a hard-hitting report on the mistreatment of detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centres since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the details of more than 40 lawsuits filed by the ACLU on behalf of detainees, the report, titled “The Survivors: Stories of […]
Switzerland: Covid-19 and Detention
In early May 2021, the Swiss immigration authority (Secrétariat d’Etat aux Migrations or SEM) launched an investigation into allegations of violence at federal asylum centres in Switzerland. The investigation followed the release of press reports about the use of excessive force by security officers when dealing with some asylum seekers. According to SEM, appropriate procedures […]
France: Covid-19 and Detention
On 26 April 2021, the National Association for Assistance at Borders for Non-Citizens (Association Nationale d’Assistance aux Frontières pour les Étrangers or ANAFE) announced that it was temporarily stopping its operations at the Zone d’Attente pour Personnes en Instance (ZAPI) of Roissy airport, a transit zone where non-citizens without authorisation to enter France are held […]
Chile: Covid-19 and Detention
In late April 2021, several civil society organisations denounced the alleged mistreatment of migrants who had been detained by police in the towns of Arica and Iquique. The Jesuit Migrant Service (Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes or SJM) filed legal appeals claiming that there had been “irregularities” in their treatment, including: improper body searches; lack of […]
India: Covid-19 and Detention
As a second wave of COVID-19 has swept across India, infection and death rates have skyrocketed across the country. On 1 May, some 392,488 new cases were reported–the largest one-day increase on record for any country–as well as 3,689 deaths, although observers suggest that real figures may be significantly higher. Despite COVID rates surging since […]
Cape Verde: Covid-19 and Detention
The Republic of Cabo Verde is an island country in the central Atlantic Ocean with a population of approximately 550,000 people. Following the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in the country on 20 March 2020, a state of emergency was declared and a series of measures were implemented including the suspension of all incoming […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
[From the GDP’s April 2021 Canada Report] As previously reported on this platform, calls for releasing people in prisons and other Canadian detention settings began soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-March, immigration detainees submitted an open letter to Canada’s Public Safety Minister demanding their release—pointing to the close quarters where they […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
Cross-party parliamentarians have urged UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to cease the use of former military barracks for confining asylum seekers. In a letter to the Home Secretary, members of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Immigration Detention wrote: “We do not believe such sites provide the safe, stable accommodation that people seeking asylum […]