The EU’s recently signed deal with Lebanon to provide financial assistance for hosting refugees and boosting border security comes as Lebanese authorities pursue an “unprecedented” crackdown targeting Syrian refugees. Human rights groups fear that the deal will keep refugees out of Europe while facilitating their deportation to Syria, in violation of human rights obligations. In […]
Lebanon
Lebanon Steps Up Forceful Removals of Syrian Refugees
Amidst festering economic crisis and political stalemate, Lebanese authorities have stepped up their efforts to remove Syrian refugees from the country. In recent weeks, hundreds have been arrested, detained, and summarily deported by Lebanon’s army intelligence unit. Since early April, the Lebanese army has conducted multiple raids across the country, arresting hundreds of Syrians who […]
Lebanon: Joint follow-up report to the UN Human Rights Committee
The MENA Rights Group and the Global Detention Project jointly issued a report to the Human Rights Committee as part of the committee’s follow up procedure its third periodic report on Lebanon’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. […]
Lebanon: Covid-19 and Detention
Lebanon, which is currently under a strict lockdown that includes a 24/7 curfew, recently witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases. On 27 January, the country’s interim health minister announced that every person in the country—regardless of their nationality–would receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Questions remain, however, whether many refugees will be willing to present themselves for […]
Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Lebanon
An estimated 73 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon lack legal status, limiting their access to services and rendering them vulnerable to abuse. In this submission to the UPR, the GDP highlights the country’s discriminatory treatment of refugees – as well as its policies vis a vis migrant domestic workers – and suggests various recommendations that the UPR Working Group should consider proposing. […]
Lebanon Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Lebanon Data Profile (2020) The latest detention-related data from Lebanon, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. View the Lebanon Detention Data Profile Related Reading: Lebanon: Submission to the Universal Periodic Review (37th Session, January/February 2021) – Issues Related to Immigration Detention Report: Immigration Detention in Lebanon – […]
Lebanon: Covid-19 and Detention
While the Lebanese government has so far managed to keep infections down, the pandemic has exposed barriers that refugees face in the country. Despite hosting the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide, Lebanon is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. An estimated 73 percent of Syrian refugees in the […]
Lebanon: Covid-19 and Detention
The GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating whether measures have been taken to safeguard migrants and asylum seekers in detention in Lebanon, in particular at the country’s main immigration detention centre in Beirut. Many migrants and refugees can also end up in prisons for extended periods of time. But there are growing […]
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
The Global Detention Project (GDP) welcomes the opportunity to provide this input to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants ahead of his forthcoming report to the 74th session of the General Assembly on “good practices or initiatives of gender-responsive migration legislation, policies and practices.” […]
International Women’s Day: Exposing the Plight of Women in Immigration Detention
This International Women’s Day, dozens of women are on hunger strike at the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in the UK. As they protest against the government’s “offensive” immigration practices, like the detention of people who came to the UK as children and the detention of survivors of torture, these women—some of whom are themselves victims of sexual abuse and trafficking—are being held indefinitely at a privately operated facility that has a long history of accusations of sexual abuse by its staff. […]