Detention “Shelters,” International Isolation, Growing Migration Pressures

Although conditions in Taiwan’s detention centres have frequently been criticised, they have received little international scrutiny because of China’s opposition to Taiwan’s UN membership.

Full Country Profile

10,844

Migration Detainees

4

Number of Detention Centres

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

1,418

Total Immigration Detention Capacity

Severe Detention Regimes and Paltry Conditions

Detention is a key immigration enforcement measure in Hong Kong, despite the fact that detention facilities have long been criticised for poor conditions and complaints of mistreatment.

Full Country Profile

5,549

Migration Detainees

4

Number of Detention Centres

52,506

Apprehensions of Non-Citizens

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Australia: Turning Arbitrary Detention into a Global Brand

Deplorable migration detention practices abound across the globe; Australia, however, brings together a range of extreme policies, provides them blanket legal cover, aggressively defends them in the face of growing international opprobrium, and spreads them to countries near and far.

Full Country Profile

5,019

Migration Detainees

32

Deportations/Forced Removals

7,685,860

International Migrants

54,430

Refugees

Trapped at the Crossroad between Europe and Asia

With one of the largest migration detention systems, Turkey has long served as Europe's reluctant refugee gatekeeper ... and sometimes strong-armed enforcer, as Afghan refugees have recently experienced.

Full Country Profile

20,000

Detained Asylum Seekers

30

Total Number of Detained Children

75,678

Deportations/Forced Removals

29

Detention Centres

Using data and analysis to promote the human rights of migrant detainees

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are detained across the globe for reasons related to their immigration status, including children, asylum seekers, 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.

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Featured Publications

Annual Reports

“These Small Victories are the Lifeblood of Change”: 2024 Annual Report

Viewing the migration and refugee landscape today, it is all too easy to despair. Which is why it is so important for us to take stock of the real impacts that we have made. As this Annual Report shows, the GDP continues to make an important difference across many countries and in numerous arenas, even if it may seem at times a quixotic or improbable struggle. But these small victories are the lifeblood of change. […]

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Submissions & Recommendations

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants: The Externalisation of Migration Controls

Ahead of the UN Special Rapporteur on Migrants’ production of a new thematic report examining the externalisation of migration, asylum, and border policies–a critically important and timely topic that is impacting the ability of migrants across the world to enjoy their fundamental rights–the GDP has provided input highlighting the venues for challenging externalised migration controls. […]

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Submissions & Recommendations

Vietnam: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee

Despite Vietnam’s growing importance in international migration and the increasing numbers of reports about harmful detention practices, to date the country’s immigration enforcement regime has not been adequately scrutinised by international human rights monitoring bodies. In this submission, the GDP and APRRN urge the CCPR to take steps to ensure that Vietnam is aware of its binding legal responsibilities concerning migrants in the country, especially with respect to ICCPR Articles 2, 9, 10, 13, and 14. […]

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