Morocco has long prided itself for defending the rights of non-nationals. However, this reputation has repeatedly been tarnished as criticism has grown over its treatment of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. In particular, increasing pressure from Europe to block the movement of migrants and asylum seekers is encouraging the use of enforcement tactics that violate migrants’ fundamental human rights.
Full Country ProfileNot Available
Immigration detainees
2019
No Data
Detained children
5,621
New asylum applications
2019
6,642
Refugees
2019
98,574
International migrants
2019
South Africa has increasingly viewed cross border movements through the lens of national security and criminality. According to observers, the country's Border Management Act, adopted in 2020, reflects this embrace of a securitisation agenda.
Full Country ProfileNot Available
Immigration detainees
2020
Not Available
Detained children
2017
3,074
New asylum applications
2020
78,395
Refugees
2020
2,860,495
International migrants
2020
In recent years, Canada has adopted both progressive refugee policies and restrictive border control measures, including agreeing to accept more refugees than other countries while at the same time adopting policies that restrict asylum eligibility.
Full Country Profile8,825
Immigration detainees
2020
138
Detained children
2020
23,900
New asylum applications
2020
101,757
Refugees
2019
7,960,657
International migrants
2019
Mexico has one of the largest immigration detention systems in the world, employing several dozen detention centres—euphemistically called "estaciones migratorias"—and detaining tens of thousands of people every year.
Full Country Profile59,155
Immigration detainees
2020
53,507
Detained children
2019
70,366
New asylum applications
2019
28,517
Refugees
2019
1,060,707
International migrants
2019
Every day, tens of thousands of men, women, and children are detained across the globe for reasons related to their immigration status: asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, refugees, trafficking victims, torture survivors, stateless persons, and others. The GDP relentlessly pursues information about where they are locked up and how they are treated to ensure that their human rights are respected.
Learn more
The GDP has provided information to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants in response to his call for input on the impact of COVID-19. The submission primarily focusses on the treatment of people in immigration detention during the pandemic. […]
As we look back at 2020, the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on the lives of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and other vulnerable non-citizens across the globe appears to overshadow all else. But this Annual Report reveals that even as we sought to steady the GDP ship through this storm, we managed to make important advancements in our core objectives and outputs. […]
This submission has been prepared by the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) and the Global Detention Project (GDP) for the third cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in November 2021. In preparing this submission, APRRN has drawn on the expertise of two of its members: Refugee Council of Australia and Caritas PNG (which works directly with refugees in PNG through the support of Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and the Solomon Islands). […]
Since the closure of its transit zones in 2020, Hungary has implemented a new, highly restrictive asylum procedure requiring all applicants to lodge their requests at consulates in Serbia or Ukraine. In a submission to the UPR, the GDP and Hungarian Helsinki Committee draw attention to this issue, along with other concerns related to migration detention and border enforcement measures. […]
This book offers a unique comparative assessment of the evolution of immigration detention systems in European Union member states since the onset of the “refugee crisis.” By applying an analytical framework premised on international human rights law in assessing domestic detention regimes, the book reveals the extent to which EU legislation has led to the adoption of laws and practices that may disregard fundamental rights and standards. […]
In a submission to the Committee on Migrant Workers ahead of the publication of its Draft General Comment No.5, the GDP has submitted information regarding the General Comment’s treatment of the role of necessity and proportionality in immigration detention decision-making, and in particular the function of ATDs in establishing whether detention is both necessary and proportionate in all cases. […]
