Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, the Latvian Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, acting as contact point for the European Migration Network (EMN), reported that Latvia had not established a moratorium on new immigration detention orders and that it was not considering the measure. No immigration detainees have been released and they […]
Detention Blog
Romania: Covid-19 and Detention
Romania’s National Preventive Mechanism, the People’s Advocate, requested information from the Interior Ministry’s General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) to provide answers to the Global Detention Projet’s Covid-19 survey. Based on information it received from the IGI, the People’s Advocate reported that during the state of emergency, the right of persons to request international protection was […]
Luxembourg: Covid-19 and Detention
Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, Luxembourg’s European Migration Network (EMN) contact point, the University of Luxembourg, reported that a moratorium on new immigration detention orders had been established, mainly as returns were no longer possible. EMN Luxembourg said that there had not been any cases of Covid-19 within the Findel Detention Centre […]
France: Covid-19 and Detention
France’s contact point for the European Migration Network (EMN), the Direction Générale des Étrangers en France (DGEF), has informed the Global Detention Project that it is not able to answer our Covid-19 survey questions. The GDP had initially written to the DGEF/EMN on 13 May 2020, requesting information on immigration detention and measures taken by […]
Sweden: Covid-19 and Detention
Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket), which also acts as the country’s European Migration Network contact, reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders had been established in response to the Covid-19 crisis and that such a measure was not being considered. In addition, the Migration Board […]
Spain: Covid-19 and Detention
Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, the Permanent Observatory for Immigration, part of the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, and acting as European Migration Network (EMN) contact, reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders was established, but that immigration detention is no longer justifiable in law as there are no reasonable […]
Germany: Covid-19 and Detention
Observers have repeatedly raised concerns during the pandemic regarding conditions inside reception facilities in Germany, with several centres witnessing Covid-19 outbreaks and others subjecting refugees and asylum seekers to dangerous living conditions (see 10 June update). Recently, volunteers, social workers, and NGOs have warned of the dire living conditions experienced by non-nationals in Munich’s network […]
France: Covid-19 and Detention
Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, the prison ombudsman, Contrôleur Général des Lieux de Privation de Liberté or CGLPL, which also acts as the country’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)), reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders had been established. They also indicated that no legislation or regulation had been adopted to […]
Israel: Covid-19 and Detention
Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, large numbers of Palestinians travelled to work in Israel on a daily or weekly basis. However, due to fears that such travel could further spread the virus, Israel’s emergency regulations required Palestinian workers to remain in the country and prevented them from returning to the West Bank. (Authorities issued stay […]
Libya: Covid-19 and Detention
UNHCR has reported that more than 2,300 remain confined in centres operated by the UN-backed Government of National Accord. Conditions remain a critical concern, with many detainees facing violence and abuse, food shortages, lack of sanitary facilities, and severe overcrowding. Reportedly, the agency has called for an “orderly release” for all those detained and for […]
