Pakistan is one of the world’s largest refugee-hosting countries, with the majority of refugees coming from Afghanistan. The country has not implemented a national asylum system and it is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention. There have been numerous reports of refugees being arrested during raids, arbitrarily detained, and summarily deported. In 2023, […]
Asia-Pacific
Immigration Detention in Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China): Severe Detention Regimes and Paltry Conditions
Detention is a key immigration enforcement measure in Hong Kong, despite the fact that detention facilities have long been criticised for poor conditions and complaints of mistreatment. […]
Mass Escape from Malaysian Detention Centre Highlights Need for Reforms
On 1 February, 131 (mainly Rohingya) refugees escaped from an immigration detention centre in the Malaysian state of Perak following reported riots in the facility, called the Bidor Temporary Immigration Depot. This is the second mass escape in two years from a Malaysian detention centre, which observers say underscores the inhumane conditions that immigration detainees […]
Reports of Refoulement in Kyrgyzstan Amidst Fears of Shrinking Asylum Space
In December, UNHCR expressed “grave concern” at the disappearance of an asylum seeker in Kyrgyzstan and his refoulement to his country of origin. Similar incidents have been reported in recent years, with rights observers also decrying the country’s shrinking asylum space. According to UNHCR, on 16/17 October an asylum seeker was arrested by security services […]
Australia’s High Court Rules Indefinite Detention Unlawful
In a landmark decision, Australia’s High Court has ruled that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful–overturning a previous decision from 2004. The case concerned a stateless Rohingya man who faced the prospect of lifelong detention as no country would resettle him. […]
NGOs Urge UN Human Rights Committee to Assess the Republic of Korea’s Immigration Practices and Policies
This week, on 19 and 20 October, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) will consider the fifth periodic report of the Republic of Korea. Amongst various concerns, numerous NGOs–including the GDP’s partner, the Association for Public Interest Law–have called on the committee to examine the country’s immigration detention practices and policies. Concerns include the detention […]
Malaysia: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Malaysia’s immigration enforcement regime—including detention, forced removals, criminal prosecution, and corporal punishment—is one of the world’s more punitive, arbitrary, and harmful systems. In a submission to the UPR, the GDP and APRRN highlight areas of particular concern. […]
China: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
In a submission to the Universal Periodic Review, the GDP and APRRN raise a number of concerns regarding immigration detention practices in Hong Kong – including the ongoing detention of children, arbitrary detention without established time limits, and the significant number of recent deaths and suicides in detention. […]
Cambodia & Southeast Asia: Cyber Scam Trafficking Victims Facing Detention and Prosecution
In a recent report to the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, a group of NGOs highlight a growing pattern of human rights violations across Southeast Asia involving trafficking rackets that are fuelled by scam online employment schemes. The report echoes recent information that the Global Detention Project has received from sources in Cambodia about […]
A Missed Opportunity in Japan
On 7 March, Japan’s cabinet passed a bill amending the country’s immigration and asylum legislation. The bill, which has been slated by rights groups, reinforces the country’s ability to indefinitely detain migrants and asylum seekers. It is now due to be voted on by the country’s parliament. With regards to detention, the amendment bill to […]
