As the coronavirus pandemic changes the lives of societies around the world, countries are being forced to alter their detention and deportation decisions. Many countries have already begun releasing detainees because of the inability to deport them. Others have been forced to close detention centres because of the spread of Covid-19 to detainees and prison staff. But critical questions remain about the fates of those who have been released and the wellbeing of detainees in countries that are refusing to release them. These developments point to larger, fundamental questions about the viability and logic of immigration detention as a response to the world’s myriad humanitarian, environmental, and health-related challenges.
Since the Covid-19 crisis began, the GDP has been closely tracking the impact of the pandemic on immigration detainees and the measures that have been taken in response to the pandemic. Today (8 April 2020) we have launched a new, dedicated Covid-19 global tracking platform and mailing list, in which we will share regular updates on how governments are responding to the pandemic in their treatment of non-citizens behind bars. To see our latest updates, visit our new platform and subscribe to the GDP’s Covid-19 mailing list HERE.
Please note, we will regularly update the information on this platform as well as add information about additional countries to reflect evolving circumstances on the ground. We therefore urge you to contact us with any updated or missing information, at research@globaldetentionproject.org.
