On 25 January, Denmark announced that it was pausing its controversial plan to outsource asylum processing to Rwanda. However, the country has expressed its intention to collaborate with other EU states in establishing a processing facility outside Europe. First proposed by the Social Democrat party in the run-up to the country’s 2019 general election, the […]
European Union
The removal operation & Repatriation Centre 127bis: preparations and conduct (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2022 visit to Belgium)
A. The removal operation: preparations and conduct; (Read full CPT report) 7. According to the data provided by the Immigration Office, published by the GeneralInspectorate of the Federal Police and Local Police (AIG)7 in its 2021 Annual Report on forced returnmonitoring, a total of 1 984 persons were subjected to a forced removal from Belgium, […]
Czech Republic: Covid-19 and Detention
Sharp increases in the numbers of unauthorised border crossings from Slovakia into neighboring Czechia have led to tensions between the two countries. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger planned to meet with his Czech counterpart in Prague on 10 November to discuss Czechia’s introduction of border controls, which Slovakia claims may undermine Schengen freedom of movement […]
Transfer to Larnaca International Airport from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2022 visit to Cyprus)
Transfer to Larnaca International Airport; (Read full CPT report) 40. Transport of detained foreign nationals on the airport for removal purposes is governed by Police Regulation 5/4 of 4 February 2021 “on the transport of convicts”. Amongst other things, the Regulation stipulates that, as a rule, handcuffs must be used, that escorting police officers shall […]
Latvia: Covid-19 and Detention
Latvia has violently pushed back and arbitrarily detained scores of refugees and migrants, including children, in secretive tented camps along its border with Belarus, says a recently published Amnesty International report. The rights group contends that authorities have used undue force including torture to stop “illegal crossings” since declaring a state of emergency in mid-2021. […]
Spain: Covid-19 and Detention
The deaths of 37 migrants and asylum seekers in late June along the border fence separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco have spurred numerous protests across cities in both countries. Thousands of protestors gathered in Barcelona, Malaga, Vigo, San Sebastian, and Melilla to denounce migration policies as well as the militarisation of Spain’s […]
France: Covid-19 and Detention
In early June, France’s independent detention monitoring agency, the Contrôleur Général des lieux de Privation de Liberté (CGPL), released a report on its work, which heavily criticised operations at the country’s immigration detention centres (centres de rétention administrative or CRA), including highlighting critical problems with respect to COVID-19 measures. The CGPL report found that the […]
Immigration detention In Netherlands ( from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2022 visit to Netherlands)
1. Preliminary remarks ; (Read full CPT report) 49. In the course of the visit, the delegation visited all three closed immigration detention facilities in the Netherlands: it carried out follow-up visits to Rotterdam43 and Schiphol Detention Centres (DCs), and it conducted a first-time visit to the Closed Family Facility (Gesloten Gezinsvoorziening – GGV) at […]
Immigration detention in Latvia (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2022 visit to Latvia)
a. preliminary remarks; (Read full CPT report) 28. One of the objectives of the 2022 visit was to examine the situation of foreign nationalsdetained under aliens legislation. For this purpose, the delegation visited the country’s two dedicateddetention facilities for foreign nationals, namely Daugavpils Immigration Detention Centre and Mucenieki Immigration Detention Centre.12 Both centres are managed […]
TURKEY: Joint Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
As Turkey has stepped up immigration controls there have been increasing reports of human rights abuses in detention centres and in other sites along its borders. Women have been subjected to abuses and gender-specific violations, including reports of rape of refugee women in some removal centres as well as humiliating strip searches. […]
