NGOs report that 6,852 migrants and asylum seekers are currently confined in the country’s 13 closed reception centres. Many had tried to cross into Croatia and Hungary – with some being forcibly pushed back by Hungarian and Croatian border police. In recent months, anti-migrant sentiment has grown in the country: a rally in Belgrade in […]
Europe
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
The UK’s Home Affairs Select Committee has called on the government to investigate concerns that cramped conditions in asylum accommodation are putting people at risk of the virus. In particular, the Committee noted its concerns regarding reports of poor conditions in an asylum centre in West Yorkshire that reportedly breached measures to control the spread […]
Russian Federation: Covid-19 and Detention
On 18 April, President Putin signed a decree “On Temporary Measures to Resolve the Legal Situation of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Russian Federation in Connection with the Threat of Further Spread of the new Coronavirus Infection Covid-19.” This new decree provides that the period from 15 March until 15 June 2020 will […]
Lithuania Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Lithuania Detention Data (2020) The latest detention-related data from Lithuania, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. View the Lithuania Detention Data Profile Related Reading: Lithuania: Country Page Lithuania: COVID-19 Updates Immigration Detention in Lithuania: Detention and Denial Amidst Extreme Population Decline […]
Turkey Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Turkey Detention Data (2020) The latest detention-related data from Turkey, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. Related Reading: Turkey: Country Page Turkey: Country Report Turkey: COVID-19 Updates […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
As news emerged of a second confirmed case of Covid-19 within a UK Removal Centre, Alison Thewliss – chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Immigration Detention – urged the UK government to release immigration detainees. In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Thewliss wrote, “The confirmation of a new coronavirus case at Brook […]
Ukraine: Covid-19 and Detention
While calls have been circulated urging authorities to take precautionary steps to protect prisoners, the GDP is not aware of such calls being made with regards to immigration detainees. On 24 March, 100 Ukrainian and European NGOs issued a statement urging Russian authorities to take necessary steps to protect prisoners confined in the Donbas and […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
Human rights organisations and legal bodies have repeatedly called on the UK Home office to release immigration detainees. While some 300 individuals were released from removal centres by the end of March, a legal filing seeking the release of all immigration detainees was blocked by the High Court. When the crisis first began to escalate […]
Switzerland: Covid-19 and Detention
Swiss authorities have temporarily closed some immigration detention facilities, and detainees who have contracted the virus have been placed in isolation in prisons. In the early stages of the virus’ spread within the country, three Covid-19 cases were detected within federal asylum centres (Chevrilles, Basel, and Bern). Transfers between such facilities were subsequently reduced, but […]
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Covid-19 and Detention
According to the UN, although the number of COVID-19 cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still considered manageable (under 500 as of 1 April) “the infection rate is rising fast and is expected to peak in the coming weeks. The authorities have taken measures to prevent the spread of the disease nationwide, such as curfews […]
