In recent weeks, Cypriot authorities have stepped up nationwide enforcement raids targeting irregular and undocumented migrants resulting in dozens of detentions and deportations. These events are part of the country’s wider focus on stepping up the return of non-nationals to their countries of origin–something that the country also seeks to prioritise during its Presidency of […]
Detention Blog
Cameroon: Another Third-Country Removal Scheme Ending with Detention
This year, the Trump administration has quietly deported seventeen men and women to Cameroon under a murky arrangement that is part of broader U.S. efforts to send “unremovable” migrants and asylum seekers to third countries. Upon arrival in the capital Yaoundé, the deportees were reportedly detained and threatened with removal to their countries of origin. […]
GUEST POST: Poland – More Migrant Children To Be Detained Following Controversial Legislative Changes
Immigration detention of asylum-seeking unaccompanied children became legally permissible in Poland in January 2026 as a result of a 2025 amendment to Poland’s Law on International Protection. The Polish government insists that the amendment, which was adopted without public consultations, will help keep children safe despite the fact that it contravenes Poland’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as EU and domestic law. […]
EU: New Return Regulation Threatens to Significantly Expand Detention, Warn UN Special Procedures
In a communication to the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of the European Union, 16 UN Special Procedure mandate holders have raised alarm over the risks posed by the EC’s proposed Return Regulation, expressing serious doubts about its compatibility with international human rights obligations. […]
Thailand: Detention and Coerced Returns of Vietnamese Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Thailand has ramped up the detention of Vietnamese migrants with reports indicating that Vietnamese officials have been given access to Thai detention facilities to coerce detainees to return. These practices, alongside high-profile cases of extradition and arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, reveal persistent breaches of human rights norms despite the fact that Thailand remains a UN Network on Migration “champion country” for implementation of the Global Compact for Migration. […]
Australia: UN Experts Raise Serious Concerns Regarding Country’s Migrant Detention System
In December, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention delivered a sobering assessment of Australia’s immigration detention system, highlighting numerous policies that call into question the country’s adherence to international human rights obligations. […]
Israel: UN Torture Committee Highlights Harmful Treatment of Detained Migrants and Refugees
The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) has echoed concerns raised by the Global Detention Project and our partner in Israel, the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (HRM), regarding the country’s detention of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. While the CAT review was dominated by human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank, the Committee highlighted poor conditions in immigration detention facilities, as well as worrying legislative developments that place non-nationals at risk of both indefinite detention and refoulement. […]
Uzbekistan: Cooperation with EU and US Raises Questions about Human Rights Obligations
Uzbekistan’s immigration laws and practices have received little international attention. However, new arrangements with both the European Union and the United States are raising questions about the country’s commitments to its human rights obligations. […]
Externalisation: ACHPR Calls on African States to Protect Migrants Amid Rising Deals
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has issued a new resolution cautioning against the externalisation of migration governance and urging African States to safeguard the rights and dignity of migrants deported from non-African countries. Adopted amidst a surge in bilateral agreements between African governments and external partners–in particular the United States and the European Union–the resolution echoes similar warnings from other international monitoring bodies and underscores the serious risks associated with externalised migration enforcement schemes. […]
Kosovo, Emerging Partner in Efforts to Outsource Migration Control
In October, reports revealed that Kosovo was in discussion with the UK to receive rejected asylum seekers as part of the UK government’s efforts to set up “return hubs” abroad–a move observers have condemned as punitive and potentially threatening migrants’ rights. Both the United States and Denmark have also made deals with the country in recent years, part of a broader and increasingly concerning trend of externalising migration controls, including detention, to third countries. […]
