As news emerged of a second confirmed case of Covid-19 within a UK Removal Centre, Alison Thewliss – chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Immigration Detention – urged the UK government to release immigration detainees. In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Thewliss wrote, “The confirmation of a new coronavirus case at Brook […]
Detention Blog
11 April 2020 – Portugal
Several dozen civil society organisations as well as more than 100 individuals have issued an open letter calling for the immediate release of all immigration detainees. The letter, issued on 9 April, highlighted the risk of contamination of Covid-19 in immigration detention centres due to poor health care provision; hygiene conditions and overcrowding. Reports also […]
11 April 2020 – Belgium
Authorities announced that they had expanded access to the labour market for asylum applicants (if they have already submitted their application). Authorities hope that they can help make up for the lack of workforce – particularly seasonal workers – in the country. From 20 March 2020, the Brussels local government will be hosting 100 homeless […]
10 April 2020 – India
In the Indian state of Assam, more than 800 persons are being held indefinitely in six detention centres within prisons. Defined by Indian authorities as “foreigners,” these detainees – many of whom are Indian citizens who have been declared “illegal immigrants” by the Foreigners Tribunal on account of poor documentation or poor legal assistance and […]
10 April 2020 – Taiwan, Province of China
The government has taken extraordinary measures to contain and combat the COVID-19 pandemic, having started testing people for the virus in January when the first case was reported. As of 7 April, there were 376 cases and five deaths (as the UN does not recognize it as a sovereign state, the WHO does not publish […]
09 April 2020 – Kuwait
According to GDP partner Migrant-Rights.org, which has posted a dedicated page updating responses by all GCC countries to Covid-19 and its impact on migrant workers in the Gulf (see link below), the government of Kuwait has taken a series of measures that affect migrant workers in the country, including with respect to detention and deportation. […]
09 April 2020 – United States
The detention visitation group Freedom for Immigrants has updated its map of U.S. detention centres with a “Covid-19 Reporting” filter that provides updated information about infections in detention centres as well as other impacts related to the pandemic. The Center for Migration Studies has launched a dedicated Covid-19 policy developments page, which focuses mainly though […]
09 April 2020 – Japan
According to a lawyer who represents immigration detainees in Japan, to date the Immigration Services Agency has taken no action to safeguard or release detainees. This has prompted NGOs and advocates in the country to issue an appeal on the Immigration Review Task Force Facebook page demanding urgent action by the government. […]
08 April 2020 – United States
Facing pressure from rights groups and civil society, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released a small number of immigration detainees. However, as the United States has the largest Immigration detention system in the world, which can reach some 40,000 detainees on any given day, the challenges the country confronts are enormous. Those released to […]
08 April 2020 – Pakistan
There are reports indicating that Pakistani authorities have taken some steps to mitigate the impact of the virus on the country’s prison population, which includes non-citizen detainees imprisoned under the 1946 Foreigners Act. The government has suspended visits to penitentiaries and court hearings. On 16 March, the Sindh provincial government began screening inmates and prison […]
