This book offers a unique comparative assessment of the evolution of immigration detention systems in European Union member states since the onset of the “refugee crisis.” By applying an analytical framework premised on international human rights law in assessing domestic detention regimes, the book reveals the extent to which EU legislation has led to the adoption of laws and practices that may disregard fundamental rights and standards. […]
Bulgaria
Bulgaria Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Bulgaria Detention Data (2020) The latest detention-related data from Bulgaria, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. View the Bulgaria Detention Data Profile Related Reading: Bulgaria: Country Page Report: Immigration Detention in Bulgaria – Fewer Migrants and Refugees, More Fences Submission to the UN Committee against Torture (70th […]
Submission to the UN Committee against Torture: Bulgaria
According to reports from national and international human rights monitors, the conditions that immigration detainees are held in in Bulgaria remain deeply concerning, with observers highlighting poor material conditions and instances of abuse. […]
Crossing a Red Line
“Crossing a Red Line” is the final report of the Red Line Project, a collaborative initiative led by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee that was aimed at documenting the shift from “reception” to “detention” in EU border regions and the implications of this shift on asylum seekers. The project also counted on the participation of the Global Detention Project, the Bulgarian Foundation for Access to Rights, the Greek Council for Refugees, and the Italian Council for Refugees. […]
Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Bulgaria
Bulgaria has served as a transit country into the European Union (EU). While it received an important number of arrivals during the refugee “crisis,” the number of irregular non-citizens apprehended in the country has decreased dramatically, including a 90 percent drop between 2015 and 2017. Despite this decrease, immigration detention has remained a key tool in Bulgaria’s response to migration and asylum flows, in addition to other measures such as the construction of a border fence. […]
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
The Global Detention Project (GDP) welcomes the opportunity to provide this input to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants ahead of his forthcoming report to the 74th session of the General Assembly on “good practices or initiatives of gender-responsive migration legislation, policies and practices.” […]
Immigration Detention in Bulgaria: Fewer Migrants and Refugees, More Fences
Immigration Detention in Bulgaria (2019 Report): Although the number of irregular non-citizens apprehended in Bulgaria has plummeted in recent years, detention remains a key tool in the country’s response to migration and asylum flows. It has also spent some 85 million EUR to construct a fence along its border with Turkey. Bulgaria’s detention centres reportedly lack […]
NEWSLETTER: International Women’s Day – Focusing Attention on the Abuses Women Suffer in Immigration Detention
Last week, reports emerged concerning a 24-year-old Honduran woman’s premature labour and subsequent delivery of a stillborn baby while in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Texas. While officials were quick to offer the awkward qualification that “for investigative and reporting purposes, a stillbirth is not considered an in-custody death,” the incident nevertheless added fuel to the growing criticism of the Trump administration’s treatment of vulnerable individuals in detention. […]
“Red Line”: The Rise in Detention of Asylum Seekers at the External Borders of the EU
Led by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), the “Red Line” project is working to reduce unnecessary and unlawful use of detention as a deterrence measure for asylum-seekers and irregular migrants in Europe, with a particular focus upon four key irregular migrant entry states: Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy. In many such countries, “reception” has morphed […]
NEWSLETTER: Immigration Detention: “Never in the Best Interests of Children”
This past summer, people across the globe watched in outrage as children were forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and placed in hastily set up camps and cages. Overlooked in much of the criticism, however, was the fact that children are locked behind bars for immigration-related reasons in dozens of other counties across the globe, all of whom—with the notable exception of the United States—have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. […]
