On 21 June 2022, the GDP and Migrant-Rights.org submitted freedom of information requests regarding immigration detention practices to UAE’s Ministry of Interior; Judicial Department (Human Rights Office); Federal Authority for Government Human Resources; Ministry of Human Resources Emiratisation; and Statistics Center.
In particular, we requested the following information:
- The number of non-citizens detained or arrested in 2019, 2020, and 2021 – including disaggregated data on the number of detained men, women, and children.
- Information on the number of people to be deported in 2019, 2020, and 2021 for immigration-related reasons.
- A complete list of facilities employed for immigration detention purposes.
The GDP and Migrant-Rights.org did not receive a response from any of the three agencies. Therefore on 17 December 2022, the GDP re-submitted these information requests. As of 22 December, the GDP has yet to receive responses.
