In response to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, which has been sent to all national contact points of the European Migration Network, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) repeated its standard response to questions concerning immigration detention in the country: that all such queries must be forwarded to state (Land) authorities. They […]
European Union
Malta: Covid-19 and Detention
Global Detention Project Survey completed by the Aditus Foundation (Claire Delom) in Malta. IS THERE A MORATORIUM ON NEW IMMIGRATION DETENTION ORDERS BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? No HAVE PEOPLE BEEN RELEASED FROM IMMIGRATION DETENTION BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? Some asylum-seekers who could provide an address and justify a place to stay were released. […]
Cyprus: Covid-19 and Detention
According to information sent to the GDP by the Cyprus Refugee Council (CRC), Cyprus has not ordered a moratorium on new immigration detention orders. Instead, the government’s newly initiated Action Plan – developed before the start of the pandemic in order to address the large number of asylum applications, but presented as a response to […]
Immigration Detention in Spain: A Rapid Response to Covid-19
On 6 May 2020, Spain reported that for the first time in its history, its long-term immigration detention facilities, “Foreign Internment Centres,” were empty. These centres had long been the target of activists, local politicians, and human rights bodies, who argued that they were unnecessary and abusive. The Covid-19 crisis, which shut down deportation flights, provided a final push. But enormous questions remain. […]
Slovenia: Covid-19 and Detention
As of 13 May 2020, Slovenia had recorded 1,461 cases of Covid-19 and 102 deaths related to the disease. As of 5 May, the detention centre in Postojna was still open. Migrants in the return procedure were released, with a temporary stay status of up to 6 months or until their removal. However, ECRE revealed […]
Spain: Covid-19 and Detention
For the first time in its history, Spain reported that its long-term immigration detention centres–Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros–were emptied, a result of measures implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The final four detainees were released on 5-6 May from the Algeciras detention centre. The Interior Ministry had been progressively releasing detainees for the […]
Hungary: Covid-19 and Detention
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on 14 May that “the placing of asylum seekers or third-country nationals who are the subject of a return decision in the Rözke transit zone at the Serbian-Hungarian border must be classified as ‘detention’.” The Court came to that conclusion as “the conditions prevailing in […]
Portugal: Covid-19 and Detention
Global Detention Project Survey completed by Portugal’s Provedor de Justiça (Ombudsman). IS THERE A MORATORIUM ON NEW IMMIGRATION DETENTION ORDERS? Yes. Migrants who have not legalized their presence in the country and had pending cases before the authorities, as well as asylum seekers, were granted a special temporary authorization of residence, with their cases being […]
Italy: Covid-19 and Detention
The Italian Minister for Agricultural Policies, Teresa Bellanova, said (6 May) that she wants to regularise some 600,000 undocumented workers. She said: “If this doesn’t happen, the State becomes not only an accomplice but also a promoter of illegality in which these workers are forced.” The confederation of Italian farmers said the regularisation of undocumented […]
France: Covid-19 and Detention
On 1 May, a journalist from France Info visited a detention centre for migrants (Centres de retention administrative – CRA) near Paris. They confirmed that there are new arrivals every week; at the time, 59 detainees were at the centre. In the absence of international flights in destinations of non-european countries, detainees awaiting deportation are […]
