Welcome to the Global Detention Project’s monthly roundup of recent publications and activities. For any questions about our content, please contact us at admin@globaldetentionproject.org
OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS
Italy’s Confusing and Arbitrary Detention System. As the main European destination for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean by boat, Italy confronts significant migration challenges. However, as latest Italy Country Profile highlights, the country has responded by ramping up its domestic detention system as well as supporting controversial EU programmes in Libya.
Read the full report >>
Greece: Systematic Detention in Appalling Conditions. For the past few years, Greece has served as one of the key entry points to the EU for migrants and asylum seekers. With European authorities citing fears of a “refugee crisis,” the country has become a focal point in Europe’s efforts to tackle irregular migration flows. But as this new GDP profile on Greece highlights, the country’s immigration detention laws and practices continue to raise serious concerns from a human rights perspective – particularly regarding the systematic character of detention, the failure to apply alternatives to detention, the appalling conditions in detention facilities and the on-going use of police stations for detention purposes.
Read the full report >>
NEWS AND ACTIVITIES
Immigration detention of children: coming to a close? In 2016, nearly half of the world’s 22.5 million refugees were children, hundreds of thousands of whom arrived in Europe—often unaccompanied. The GDP’s director spoke recently at a conference exploring trends in the detention of children, hosted by the Czech Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Discussing whether efforts to promote “alternatives to detention” could spur decreases in the detention of children, he said “the evidence to date is not encouraging.” Michael Flynn’s full presentation is now available online. Watch now >>
Should Europe sign the UN Convention on Migrants? On International Migrants’ Day, the GDP’s Senior Researcher, Mariette Grange, participated in a France Culture live debate exploring Europe’s response to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. “It is a conscious political choice by EU Member States not to ratify the convention,” she said, “but European states also demonstrate a deep ignorance about this Convention. … It should not be assumed that a Convention that has not been ratified by Western states does not exist.” Listen to the full debate (French) >>
The growing externalisation of migration policies. In November, the GDP’s Senior Researcher was interviewed live on Al Jazeera English to discuss the global spread of immigration detention—and in particular, the growing externalisation of migration policies at the periphery of western states. Focussing on the plight of immigration detainees on Manus Island and in Libya, she highlighted how western governments are supporting systems of exploitation in which immigration detainees are forced to live in appalling conditions. For more information on this issue, see the recent article by the GDP’s director’s, “Kidnapped, Trafficked, Detained?” published in the Journal on Migration and Human Security.
The Global South and the World: Past, Present and Future. The Annual Conference of Global South Studies, held in Marrakech 14-16 December, featured a presentation from the GDP entitled “How the Global North is turning the Global South into an immigration detention gulag,” as well as a presentation on the new volume, “Challenging Immigration Detention: Academics, Activists and Policy-Makers.”
Children deprived of their liberty, and alternatives to detention. In November, the GDP participated in the 11th European Forum on the rights of the child, including at a side event on data collection. The conference, which took place in the context of the forthcoming UN Global study on children deprived of their liberty, was devoted to the topics of deprivation of liberty and alternatives to detention.
GDP ON THE RECORD
- “Not the last resort: Variation in the practice of detention of unaccompanied minors across the European Union”, J. Khrebtan-Hörhager and I. Kononenko in Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Child Migrants, M.G.Anthony and R.J.Thomas (eds), 2017, Maryland: Lexington Books.
- “Diversion not deportation: Mitigating the harsh immigration consequences of minor crimes,” W.C.Wootten (2017), Volume 16(1), Seattle Journal for Social Justice.
- “Discretion to deport: Intersections between health and detention of Syrian refugees in Jordan,” P. Molnar (2017), Volume 33(2), Refuge – Canada’s Journal on Refugees.
- “Immigration detention and the racialized governance of illegality in the United Kingdom,” S. Turnbull (2017), Volume 44(1), Social Justice.
- “Deflection and deterrence: Europe’s shrinking asylum space and its parallels with Australian policies,” G. Harvey (2017), Volume 5(2), Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity.
- “Petra Glynt’s tour derailed by UK entry denial and 51 hour detainment,” I. Ciobanu (3 November 2017), Earmilk.
- “A slave in Arabia – the story of a Ghanaian returnee, “A. Badu/ Daily Express (22 November 2017), Peace FM.
- “Görünmez gölgeler eşliğindebir sessiz yanki (Invisible shadows, a quiet echo),” M. Bayik (28 November 2017), Sanatatak.
- “為何經過萬里飄泊、逃入泰國邊境後，脫北者會主動讓警察拘捕 (Why after wandering and escaping to the Thai border, the North takes the initiative to let the police arrest?),” Huang Ting Court (12 November 2017), The News Lens.
- “L’Europe doit-elle signer la convention de l’ONU sur les migrants? (Should Europe sign the UN Convention on Migrants?),” H. Gardette (18 December 2017), France Culture (Du Grain à moudre)
- “‘Print this map. Get off the internet. Take to the streets’: 5 of the Left’s best mapping moments,” S. Hind, Novaria Media.
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