Despite Vietnam’s growing importance in international migration and the increasing numbers of reports about harmful detention practices, to date the country’s immigration enforcement regime has not been adequately scrutinised by international human rights monitoring bodies. In this submission, the GDP and APRRN urge the CCPR to take steps to ensure that Vietnam is aware of its binding legal responsibilities concerning migrants in the country, especially with respect to ICCPR Articles 2, 9, 10, 13, and 14. […]
Mauritania: Mass Arrests and Deportations as EU Continues Efforts to Create “Bulwark” Against Irregular Migration
Under renewed pressure from the EU to prevent migrants from reaching the Canary Islands, in recent months Mauritanian authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, and expelled thousands of migrants. The West African state has come under repeated scrutiny in recent years for its detention and deportation practices, but the scale of the recent crackdown has attracted […]
Kazakhstan: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee
In recent years, the treatment of migrant workers in Kazakhstan–which has included widespread raids, detentions, and deportations; the targeting of foreigners in response to social unrest; inadequate compensation to migrant victims of torture; and efforts to remove persons to countries where they risk serious risk of harm–has attracted increased criticism. […]
Greece: Growing Pressure to End Pushbacks and Prevent Abuses in Migrant Detention Sites
Greek authorities continue to conduct illegal pushbacks at the country’s land and sea borders, according to a recent report from the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights. Noting ongoing allegations of systematic summary returns, despite the European Court of Human Rights’ condemnation of the practice in January this year, the Commissioner urges Greek authorities to “adopt a zero-tolerance approach” to summary returns and to ensure impartial investigations of allegations. […]
Libya: The Latest Target of the Rapidly Growing U.S. Deportation Scheme
This week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration plans to deport migrants to Libya–a country long criticised by the U.S and the wider international community for its abusive treatment of migrants and asylum seekers. Just in February, investigators uncovered two mass graves in the southeast of the country containing the bodies of dozens of migrants, some bearing evidence of gunshot wounds. […]
Yemen: US Airstrike Kills Dozens of Migrants at Detention Centre
In the early hours of Monday 28 April, a US airstrike is reported to have struck a detention facility in Yemen’s northern Sa’ada Governorate, killing dozens of migrants confined in the building. This is not the first time that a detention centre holding migrants has been struck in Yemen: another facility within the same compound was struck in 2022 leaving more than 90 dead. […]
The Bahamas: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee
The Bahamas’ immigration policies and practices are notably strict, and many elements appear to violate the State’s commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In a joint submission to the CCPR, the GDP and OBMICA highlight shared concerns in relation to the country’s implementation of the convention. […]
Guest Opinion: “Cruelty Is Not My Flag: Contesting Arbitrary Detention and Deportations from the Dominican Republic”
In its latest efforts to remove Haitian migrants, authorities in the Dominican Republic have introduced a slate of new immigration control measures–amongst them a new protocol requiring the presence of immigration officers in hospital maternity wards and for women without paperwork to be deported immediately. This latest cruel and misogynistic policy further deepens migrant women’s vulnerabilities, increasing the obstacles they face in accessing vital public health services. […]
Russia: Weaponising Immigration Policies to Push Migrants into War and Launching a New “Expulsion Regime”
Russia is ramping up immigration enforcement to pressure migrants to join the frontline in Ukraine and increase deportations of people from various Asian countries. As part of the Kremlin’s efforts to bolster military strength, foreigners continue to be coerced into fighting in Ukraine–with many being threatened with deportation should they refuse to fight. And since […]
United States and El Salvador: A Scheme to Deport Migrants from the US to a “Human Rights Black Hole”
On 7 April, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could continue deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s “supermax” CECOT prison, referred to by observers as a “human rights black hole.” In March, more than 260 people were deported and placed in the facility under the US’s controversial agreement with El […]
