The Global Detention Project (GDP) has submitted several information requests to central and state authorities in India regarding the country’s immigration detention practices. Amongst those contacted by the GDP are the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, National Human Rights Commission, and authorities in Assam, Manipur, Delhi, Telangana, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Issues covered in the requests included:
Central Authorities
- Information regarding the implementation of the “Model Detention Centre/Holding Centre/Camp Manual” (2019) in both new and pre-existing immigration detention centres. In particular, has this provision been fully implemented in all detention centres?
- Information on the number of immigration detention centres/holding centres/camps used for migration-related detention that were in operation as of 1 December 2022.
- Annual statistics detailing the number of non-citizens detained or arrested in 2019, 2020, and 2021 under Section 3(2)(c) and Section 3(2)(e) of the 1946 Foreigners Act – including disaggregated data on immigration detainees’ countries of origin, and on the number of men, women, and children in detention.
- The dates that India ratified relevant regional human rights treaties, in particular: SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare and SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.
State Authorities (Assam, Manipur, Delhi, Telangana, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh)
- Information regarding the number of immigration detention centres/holding centres/camps operating in each state as of 1 December 2022 – including each facility’s name and location, as well as its detention capacity.
- Annual statistics detailing the number of non-citizens detained or arrested in each state in 2019, 2020, and 2021 – including disaggregated data on immigration detainees’ countries of origin, and on the number of men, women, and children in detention.
These information requests were issued as part of the the GDP’s transparency initiative and its collaborative civil society project, the “Global Immigration Detention Observatory,” which seeks to build empirical data and information about immigration detention systems around the world to support calls for reforms in migration-related enforcement practices.
As of January 2023, the GDP had not received any responses to these requests.
