Last updated: March 2009
GDP Glossary
Administrative Detention: Deprivation of liberty in the absence of a criminal charge. Although the Global Detention Project focuses uniquely on migration-related detention, which is generally administrative in nature, administrative detention can also include detention for security reasons; internment of persons with mental illness; administrative detention or confinement on public or health grounds; and administrative detention in the context of an armed conflict. Domestic legal systems are often not as detailed regarding these detention situations, which can result in administrative detainees facing legal uncertainty. Among the difficulties these detainees can face are lack of access to the outside world (including to legal counsel), inadequate or no possibilities of challenging detention through the courts, and lack of limitations on the duration of detention.
Admission: “The granting of entry into a State. An alien has been ‘admitted’ if s/he passed through a checkpoint (air, land, or sea) and is permitted to enter by border officials. An alien who has entered clandestinely is not considered to have been admitted.” (IOM)
Ad Hoc: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote detention sites where at least one of the following conditions apply: 1) detainees at the site are not there under the authorization of the appropriate government agency; 2) the site is not an officially sanctioned detention site (i.e. a hotel).
Adjudication: “In the migration context, a decision as to whether an applicant is qualified for the visa, refugee status, or other immigration status s/he seeks.” (IOM)
Alien: Any individual who is not a national of the state in which he or she is present.
Aseguramiento: Loosely translated as “assurance,” aseguramiento is a term used in Mexico to describe the administrative detention of irregular migrants because of their status.
Assisted Voluntary Return: “Logistical and financial support to rejected asylum seekers, trafficked migrants, stranded students, qualified nationals, and other migrants unable or unwilling to remain in the host country who volunteer to return to their countries of origin.” (IOM)
Asylum: “The grant, by a State, of protection on its territory to persons from another State who are fleeing persecution or serious danger. Asylum encompasses a variety of elements, including non-refoulement, permission to remain on the territory of the asylum country, and humane standards of treatment.” (UNHCR)
Asylum Seeker: “An asylum-seeker is an individual who is seeking international protection. In countries with individualized procedures, an asylum seeker is someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in which he or she has submitted it. Not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognized as a refugee, but every refugee is initially an asylum seeker.” (UNHCR)
Ausreisezentrum (“Departure Center”): A term used in Germany to designate official facilities used in some Landers where rejected asylum seekers who lost or forged their identity cards are detained with the aim of persuading them to voluntarily leave the country (see Thal 2003).
Border Control: “A State’s regulation of the entry of persons to its territory, in exercise of its sovereignty.” (IOM)
Betreuungsstelle: A term used in Austria to designate official care centers, or shelters, where asylum seekers without resources can be housed.
Bundesasylamt: A term used in Austria to designate official asylum offices.
Bureau of Prisons (BOP): In the United States, the government agency that runs the federal prison system.
Clandestine Migration: “Secret or concealed migration in breach of immigration requirements. It can occur when a non-national breaches the entry regulations of a country; or having entered a country legally overstays in breach of immigration regulations.” (IOM)
Contract Detention Facility (CDF): In the United States, denotes privately run prisons and detention centres that have federal contracts to confine convicted criminals and/or immigration detainees.
Country of First Asylum: “The first country in which an asylum seeker has been granted an effective hearing of his/her application for asylum.” (UNHCR)
Criminal Alien: Term used in various countries for a non-citizen convicted of a crime that results in his/her loss of residence status.
Detention: According to UNHCR’s detention guidelines, detention is “confinement within a narrowly bounded or restricted location, including prisons, closed camps, detention facilities or airport transit zones, where freedom of movement is substantially curtailed, and where the only opportunity to leave this limited area is to leave the territory.” The guidelines add: “There is a qualitative difference between detention and other restrictions on freedom of movement. Persons who are subject to limitations on domicile and residency are not generally considered to be in detention. When considering whether an asylum seeker is in detention, the cumulative impact of the restrictions as well as the degree and intensity of each of them should also be assessed.”
The International Organization for Migration defines detention as: “Restriction on freedom of movement, usually through enforced confinement, of an individual by government authorities. There are two types of detention. Criminal detention, having as a purpose punishment for the committed crime; and administrative detention, guaranteeing that another administrative measure (such as deportation or expulsion) can be implemented. In the majority of the countries, irregular migrants are subject to administrative detention, as they have violated immigration laws and regulations, which is not considered to be a crime. In many States, an alien may also be detained pending a decision on refugee status or on admission to or removal from the State.”
Detention Camp: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote exposed, fenced in areas typically used to confine people who form part of large refugee or migration flows. Camps are often located near borders of unstable and/or underdeveloped regions. Armed guards are typically present to prevent unauthorized entrance or exit.
Deportation: “The act of a state in the exercise of its sovereignty in removing an alien from its territory to a certain place after refusal of admission or termination of permission to remain.” (IOM)
Deportation Centre: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote detention sites used exclusively for housing migrants--including rejected asylum seekers and irregular immigrants—who have been issued deportation orders or are otherwise awaiting imminent removal.
Deprivation of Liberty: “Any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting, from which this person is not permitted to leave at will, by order of any judicial, administrative, or other public authority” (UNGA 1990).
Economic Migrant: “Persons who leave their countries of origin purely for economic reasons not in any way related to the refugee definition, or in order to seek material improvements in their livelihood. Economic migrants do not fall within the criteria for refugee status and are therefore not entitled to benefit from international protection as refugees.” (UNHCR)
Estaciones Migratorias: Term used in Mexico to denote official immigration detention centres operated by that country’s immigration authority, the Instituto Nacional de Migracion.
Expulsion: “Removal of a lawful resident from the territory of a State by government authorities. Under Article 32 of the 1951 Convention, national security and public order are the only permissible grounds for the expulsion of a refugee. The procedures by which a decision for expulsion is reached should be fair and just, and the refugee should be allowed a reasonable time to seek admission into another country.” (UNHCR)
Expulsion Order: “The order of a State informing of the prohibition of a non-national to remain on its territory. This order is given either if the individual entered illegally on the territory, or is no longer authorized to remain in the State. This order is generally combined with the announcement that it will be enforced, if necessary, by deportation.” (IOM)
Forced Migration: “General term used to describe a migratory movement in which an element of coercion exists, including threats to life and livelihood, whether arising from natural or man-made causes (e.g. movements of refugees and internally displaced persons as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects).” (IOM)
Guesthouse: Official name for migrant detention facilities in Turkey.
Habeas Corpus: A legal challenge aimed at testing the legality of detention or imprisonment.
Holding Centre: A facility lodging asylum seekers or migrants in an irregular situation as soon as they arrive in a receiving country; their status is determined before they are sent to refugee camps or back to their country of origin. (IOM)
Illegal Entry: Act of crossing borders without complying with the necessary requirements for legal entry into the receiving State (Art. 3(b), UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000). (IOM)
Illegal Immigrant (or Illegal Alien): A term widely used in both public and official discourse in many countries to denote those people who have entered a country “illegally”—without proper visas or identity papers. The United States defines an “illegal alien” as a “comprehensive term intended to include those foreign-born individuals who enter, reside, or work in the United States without complying with U.S. immigration law” (Department of Homeland Security Office 2006). Considered a disparaging term by many rights advocates, “illegal immigrant” is also a legally misleading term because most countries who detain people on migration grounds do so for administrative purposes and do not charge them with having committed a crime.
Illegal Foreigner: Term used in South Africa for persons considered to be prohibited from admission into the country.
Immigration: "A process by which non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement." (IOM)
Immigration Office: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote detention sites located inside regional or local offices of a country’s immigration authority or border patrol. Although they sometimes carry discrete names or designations -- for example, “Detention Houses” in Japan -- these sites share in common that they form part of an office or bureau of an immigration agency. The sites typically encompass a delimited space, usually in the form of a few cells or locked rooms located within an immigration or border patrol building, and are often used for short-term confinement, until detainees are expelled, released, or transferred to long-term detention centres or other holding facilities.
Interception: "Any measure applied by a State outside its national territory to prevent, interrupt, or stop the movement of persons without required documentation from crossing borders by land, air or sea, and making their way to the country of prospective destination." (IOM)
Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA): Contracts in the United States between federal and state or local governments. Used by the federal government to contract space in local or state prisons to hold immigration detainees.
International Migration: “Movement of persons who leave their country of origin, or the country of habitual residence, to establish themselves either permanently or temporarily in another country. An international frontier is therefore crossed.” (IOM)
Involuntary Repatriation: “Repatriation of refugees to the country of origin induced by the receiving country by creating circumstances which do not leave any other alternative. As repatriation is a personal right (unlike expulsion and deportation which are primarily within the domain of State sovereignty), as such, neither the State of nationality nor the State of temporary residence or detaining power is justified in enforcing repatriation against the will of an eligible person, whether refugee or prisoner of war. According to contemporary international law, prisoners of war or refugees refusing repatriation, particularly if motivated by fears of political persecution in their own country, should be protected from refoulement and given, if possible, temporary or permanent asylum.” (IOM)
Irregular Migrant: “Someone who, owing to illegal entry or the expiry of his or her visa, lacks legal status in a transit or host country. The term applies to migrants who infringe a country’s admission rules and any other person not authorized to remain in the host country (also called clandestine/ illegal/undocumented migrant or migrant in an irregular situation).” (IOM)
Irregular Movement of Refugees: “The phenomenon of refugees or asylum-seekers moving illegally from a first country of asylum, in order to seek asylum or permanent settlement in another country.” (UNHCR)
Mandate Refugees: “Persons who are recognized as refugees by UNHCR acting under the authority of its Statute and relevant UN General Assembly resolutions. Mandate status is especially significant in States that are not parties to the 1951 Convention or its 1967 Protocol.” (UNHCR)
Migrant: The Global Detention Project uses this term to refer to anyone who has crossed an international border, regardless of the reason for the person’s movement. The term, however, is sometimes used more restrictively to cover only cases “where the decision to migrate is taken freely by the individual concerned for reasons of ‘personal convenience’ and without intervention of an external compelling factor.” (IOM)
Migrant Detention Center: Generic term used by the Global Detention Project to denote officially sanctioned facilities used exclusively to confine people charged with violating immigration norms.
Migrant Worker: "A person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national" (Art. 2, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, 1990).
Migration: “A process of moving, either across an international border, or within a State. It is a population movement, encompassing any kind of movement of people, whatever its length, composition and causes; it includes migration of refugees, displaced persons, uprooted people, and economic migrants.” (IOM)
Migration Management: “A term used to encompass numerous governmental functions and a national system of orderly and humane management for cross-border migration, particularly managing the entry and presence of foreigners within the borders of the State and the protection of refugees and others in need of protection.” (IOM)
Migration-Related Detention (also Migrant Detention): The deprivation of liberty of non-citizens because of their undocumented or irregular status.
Minors: “Persons who are below the legal age of majority and are therefore not legally independent. This term includes adolescents. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a ‘child’ is a person who is below the age of eighteen, unless the applicable law sets a lower age. The CRC equates ‘child’ with ‘minor.’” (UNHCR)
Mixed Flows: “Complex population movements including refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants and other migrants.” (IOM)
Non-Admission: Denial of admittance onto a country’s territory.
Non-Refoulement: “A core principle of international refugee law that prohibits States from returning refugees in any manner whatsoever to countries or territories in which their lives or freedom may be threatened. The principle of non-refoulement is a part of customary international law and is therefore binding on all States, whether or not they are parties to the 1951 Convention.” (UNHCR)
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR): The U.S. agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, that overseas refugee resettlement. It also overseas the confinement/housing of unaccompanied minors.
Offshore Detention Centre: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote detention sites that a country locates outside its national borders or on territory it has “excised” for immigration purposes. In some cases similar to “Transit Zone” detention sites, offshore detention centres have sometimes been used to prevent migrants from making asylum claims as well as from enjoying other legal guarantees. Although offshore sites are located outside the country in question, detainees held at such sites remain in the custody of authorities of that country.
Overstayer (also, Overstay): Term used in many countries to designate non-citizens who have remained in a country after their visas have expired.
Prison (or Police Station): Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote jails, prisons, polices station lock ups, and detention centres for juvenile offenders that are also used to hold immigration detainees. Administrative detainees confined in prisons are often held alongside criminal detainees.
Refugee: “A person who meets the eligibility criteria under the applicable refugee definition, as provided for in international or regional refugee instruments, under UNHCR’s mandate, and/or in national legislation.” (UNHCR)
Registration Centre: Term used by the Global Detention Project to denote facilities used specifically for confining (or housing) asylum seekers until an initial assessment can be made on their cases.
Rejection at the Border: “In the refugee context, the refusal to allow an asylum-seeker entry into a prospective country of asylum. Rejection at the border may result in a violation of the principle of non-refoulement.” (UNHCR)
Repatriation: “The personal right of a refugee or a prisoner of war to return to his/her country of nationality under specific conditions laid down in various international instruments (Geneva Conventions, 1949 and Protocols, 1977, the Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Annexed to the Fourth Hague Convention, 1907, the human rights instruments as well as in customary international law). The option of repatriation is bestowed upon the individual personally and not upon the detaining power. Repatriation also entails the obligation of the detaining power to release eligible persons (soldiers and civilians) and the duty of the country of origin to receive its own nationals. Repatriation as a term also applies to diplomatic envoys and international officials in time of international crisis.” (IOM)
Resettlement: “The transfer of refugees from the country in which they have sought refuge to another State that has agreed to admit them. The refugees will usually be granted asylum or some other form of long-term resident rights and, in many cases, will have the opportunity to become naturalized citizens. For this reason, resettlement is a durable solution as well as a tool for the protection of refugees. It is also a practical example of international burden- and responsibility-sharing.” (UNHCR)
Screening: “The process of checking for a particular attribute or ability. In the migration context, a preliminary (often cursory) review to determine if a person is “prima facie” eligible for the status applied for.” (IOM)
Service Processing Center (SPC): In the United States, immigration detention centres owned by the federal government.
Stateless Person: “A person who, under national laws, does not have the legal bond of nationality with any State. Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons indicates that a person not considered a national (or citizen) automatically under the laws of any State, is stateless.” (UNHCR)
Transit Camp: “An area, with at least overnight facilities, where refugees are gathered prior to moving on to a more permanent settlement.” (UNHCR)
Transit Zone: A term used by the Global Detention Project to denote detention facilities that are located in “international zones” near or inside airports or other ports of entry where people who have been denied immediate entry into a country are confined.
Unaccompanied Minors: “Persons below the legal age of majority who are not in the company of an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible to do so, such as parents, guardians or primary care-givers.” (UNHCR)
Unauthorized Immigrant (also Illegal Immigrant, Irregular Migrant, and Undocumented Migrant): An immigrants who does not have appropriate residence documentation or authorization.
Undocumented Alien: “An alien who enters or stays in a country without the appropriate documentation. This includes, among others: one (a) who has no legal documentation to enter a country but manages to enter clandestinely, (b) who enters using fraudulent documentation, (c) who, after entering using legal documentation, has stayed beyond the time authorized or otherwise violated the terms of entry and remained without authorization.” (IOM)
Voluntary Repatriation (also, Voluntary Return): “Return to the country of origin based on the refugees’ free and informed decision. Voluntary repatriation may be organized, (i.e., when it takes place under the auspices of the concerned governments and UNHCR), or spontaneous (i.e., the refugees return by their own means with UNHCR and governments having little or no direct involvement in the process of return).” (UNHCR)
References
International Organisation for Migration (IOM). 2004. "International Migration Law: Glossary on Migration." IOM.
Thal, Alexander. 2003. "Besser fahren mit Ausreisezentren?" Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 2/2003, pp. 153-156.
UN General Assembly (UNGA). 1990. "Resolution 45/113: UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty." 14 November 1990.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2006. "Master Glossary of Terms, Rev. 1." UNHCR. June 2006.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 1999. "Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers." UNHCR.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. "Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens." April 2006
