Although Serbia maintains official immigration detention facilities, migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers continue to be deprived of their liberty in a range of informal sites where their fundamental rights are violated. Testimonies from former detainees and reports by the country’s National Preventive Mechanism also highlight poor detention conditions in both formal and informal settings–with limited access to health care remaining a particular concern–and vulnerable groups including children remain at risk of detention. […]
MSF-Italy General Assembly Keynote: The Global Expansion of Immigration Detention, “Unleashed from Human Rights”
11 April 2026 In a keynote address at MSF-Italy General Assembly in Italy, the GDP’s Executive Director issued a stark warning: immigration detention is not only expanding worldwide—it is becoming more punitive, less accountable, and increasingly detached from basic human rights standards. Alongside panellists Stefano Anastasia (the Guarantor for the rights of detainees for the […]
Trinidad and Tobago: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Since 2018 Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has experienced unprecedented flows of migrants and asylum seekers from Venezuela, many of them entering via irregular channels. The country’s legislation, however, treats irregular entry as a criminal offence and it continues to lack asylum-specific legislation, leaving all irregular arrivals vulnerable to arrest and detention upon arrival. Together with our partner in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Human Rights Centre, we highlighted shared concerns regarding the country’s immigration detention policies and practices to the Universal Periodic Review Working Group–and called for important changes to ensure respect for non-nationals’ rights. […]
Thailand: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Despite legal safeguards and stated commitments to protect migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers—including those in detention—Thailand’s treatment of these groups continues to fall short of international standards. Together with our partner, the Cross Cultural Foundation, we raised multiple concerns with the Universal Periodic Review’s Working Group, urging critical reforms to the country’s detention policies and practices and broader compliance with its international human rights obligations. […]
Cyprus: Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
In a new submission, the Global Detention Project has urged the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to demand that Cyprus end its harmful migrant detention policies–which include the continued use of police holding cells; arbitrary and de facto detention in Pournara Reception Centre; and prison-like detention conditions in Menoyia Detention Centre. The […]
Serbia: Joint Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
In a joint report with Collective Aid, the GDP has highlighted serious and systemic concerns regarding Serbia’s immigration detention policies and practices–including routine use of arbitrary, ad hoc, detention; inadequate access to justice and assistance; the detention of vulnerable groups; and poor detention conditions. In light of the Committee’s Joint General Recommendation no.39 (/no. 8 […]
Libya: EU Plans in Eastern Libya Threaten Increased “Pullbacks” and Detentions
Amidst growing numbers of irregular departures from eastern Libya towards the Greek islands of Gavdos and Crete, internal EU documents reveal plans to collaborate with the country’s de facto leader Gen. Khalifa Haftar to intercept irregularly departing migrants. The plans could significantly expand Libya’s migrant “pullbacks,” leading to more people being stranded in the country’s […]
Cyprus: Stepped Up Efforts to Return Non-Nationals During EU Council Presidency
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 […]
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. […]
