Featured Countries

Belgium

In recent years, Belgian immigration policies have been marked by a heavy emphasis on security, and its detention practices have been the subject of much debate at both the national and international levels. Bolstered by a passel of rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights on Belgian detention practices, civil society groups, human rights watchdogs, and international bodies have criticized the country for a number of controversial practices, including the detention of children, the use of transit zone detention centres, and providing inadequate information to detainees about their legal rights. Simultaneously, Belgian authorities have engaged in a continuous reworking of both detention practices and the legal framework governing detention.

 

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Mauritania

Mauritania has become a favoured transit point for African migrants attempting to reach Europe. The introduction of stricter border controls in Morocco and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in the mid-2000s forced migrants to search out new routes, which resulted in the Mauritanian port city of Nouadhibou, located 800 km southeast of Spain’s Canary Islands, becoming a key departure hub. Thousands of irregular migrants enter the country yearly, particularly from Senegal and Mali, to set out on perilous trips to the Canaries. Mauritania has established agreements with Spain on implementing stricter controls, including police checkpoints along its borders and surveillance operations to interdict smuggling vessels. In addition, Mauritania operates one dedicated immigration detention centre in Nouadhibou, nicknamed “Guantanamito” by detainees, which has been sharply criticised for its poor conditions.

 

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Greece

Traditionally an emigrant-producing country, since the 1990s, Greece has become a key entrance point into the European Union for increasing numbers of migrants, many of whom arrive without appropriate documentation. Between 1993 and 2008, the number of immigrants in Greece quadrupled. Migration pressures have been particularly noticeable in Evros, which shares a land border with Turkey, and on the islands of Samos, Chios, and Lesvos, where immigrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East arrive. Greece has responded with a series of measures, including hardened border controls, regularization programmes, and stepped up expulsion efforts. There has also been a dramatic increase in the reported number of apprehensions of both irregular migrants and asylum seekers. In 2005, approximately 40,000 migrants were apprehended; by 2008, the number had jumped to 146,337.

 

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