In a joint submission with the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, the GDP has raised concerns with the UN Committee against Torture over Israel’s detention laws and practices, highlighting new and proposed legislation permitting indefinite detention and deportations in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, the detention of vulnerable groups, inadequate protections for non-nationals during the Iran-Israel war, and the failure to support migrant victims of the 7 October Hamas attack. […]
Albania: Submission to the UN Committee against Torture
Albania operates a single dedicated immigration detention facility, the Karreç Detention Centre. In a submission to the UN Committee against Torture, the GDP raised concerns regarding conditions in the facility, as well as reports of the use of ad hoc detention sites and the country’s facilitation of Italian-managed detention centres on its territory. […]
Niger: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Since the 2023 coup, Niger’s migration landscape has changed dramatically, with new legislation tightening entry, stay, and movement, criminalising irregular migration, and granting broad powers to enforcement officers. In a joint submission to the UPR, the GDP, JMED Niger, and REMIDDH raise concerns over arbitrary and harmful detention, poor conditions, and abuse of migrants, urging Niger to amend its policies to ensure detention is used only as a last resort and in line with international human rights standards. […]
Belarus: Using the Separation of Mothers from Their Children as a Migration Enforcement Strategy
On 7 August, Belarusian authorities expelled a young Guinean mother while her young baby remained in Belarus. Reportedly, the mother was removed without due process–including the ability to challenge her separation from her child. UN experts have condemned the incident, which reflects a broader pattern in Belarus of using parental separation from children for both immigration and political reasons. […]
India: Joint Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
In a joint submission with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, the GDP highlights concerns to CEDAW regarding the detention, refoulement, and other human rights violations faced by women refugees and migrants in India. […]
UN Special Rapporteur Calls on Mauritania to End Abuses Against Migrants and Refugees
Following his visit to Mauritania between 2 – 12 September, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants has released his preliminary findings and recommendations concerning the country’s treatment of non-nationals. In advance of the mission, the Global Detention Project provided the Special Rapporteur with a detailed briefing documenting persistent violations of migrants’ and refugees’ rights, including arbitrary arrest and detention, inhumane detention conditions, and collective expulsions. Many of these concerns were echoed in his initial observations. […]
Sri Lanka: Detainees Decry Poor Conditions and Indefinite Detention in Welisara Detention Centre
In recent weeks, the Global Detention Project has received several testimonies from a group of people held in immigration detention in Sri Lanka, depicting troubling detention conditions and instances of indefinite immigration detention. The accounts of their treatment at the Welisara Detention Centre reflect wider concerns about the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in the country, including the arbitrary detention of children and asylum seekers. […]
Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants: Mauritania
Amid growing European pressure, Mauritania has increasingly subjected migrants to arbitrary arrest, detention, and forced expulsion—particularly in the past year. Due to limited transparency and the ad hoc nature of these practices, comprehensive data on all detention facilities remains unavailable. Nevertheless, the GDP has documented the use of multiple sites for immigration detention. […]
Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa): “Numbers We Don’t See And Why They Matter”
“In migration management, numbers are not just statistics; they shape public perception, drive political narratives, and influence government spending. When accurate, they can foster a nuanced understanding of migration and guide evidence-based, humane policy. When inflated or incomplete, they fuel fear. In South Africa, we have a numbers problem: not just in how they are used, but in how they are hidden. ” […]
The GDP Announces Changes to its Executive Committee
The Global Detention Project’s Executive Committee today announces a leadership change, with the appointment of Kirsten Sandberg as the Board’s Interim President, replacing Sahar Okhovat. The former Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Ms. Sandberg joined the GDP’s Executive Committee in 2019. She has been an unwavering source of […]
