On 7 December, a Filipino worker reportedly died while carrying out repairs at a training facility in Qatar used by the Saudi Arabian football team, marking the latest in a series of work-related incidents connected to the Qatar World Cup. According to the Guardian, approximately 6,500 migrant workers from five countries have died since Qatar […]
Covid-19
China: Covid-19 and Detention
Recent protests in China over strict zero-covid policies made headlines across the globe because of their rarity and intensity. However, missed in much of the coverage were public protests of foreign migrant workers, who have been particularly impacted by the zero-covid policy, including being subject to lengthy quarantine and detention measures. According to one report, […]
Dominican Republic: Covid-19 and Detention
In the past three months, Dominican Republic authorities have significantly stepped up migration controls and forced removals of Haitians, including amongst them pregnant women arrested in hospitals, prompting international condemnation. The country, which has historically pursued a policy of mass deportations, removed more than 60,204 people to Haiti between 1 August and the end of […]
Egypt: Covid-19 and Detention
While Egypt has been courting world leaders in Sharm el Sheikh as the host for COP27, it has continued to arbitrarily and indefinitely detain thousands of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Many are also being forcibly deported to countries where they may face persecution or torture. Egypt has a track record of detaining non-nationals for […]
Czech Republic: Covid-19 and Detention
Sharp increases in the numbers of unauthorised border crossings from Slovakia into neighboring Czechia have led to tensions between the two countries. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger planned to meet with his Czech counterpart in Prague on 10 November to discuss Czechia’s introduction of border controls, which Slovakia claims may undermine Schengen freedom of movement […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
A short-term holding facility for newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers has been denounced for “catastrophic overcrowding” and “grotesque treatment,” with the country’s Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reporting that he was left “speechless” by the conditions he observed inside. Thousands are currently detained in Manston Processing Centre where rights groups argue a “humanitarian […]
Israel: Covid-19 and Detention
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel has welcomed large numbers of Ukrainian and Russian Jews within the scope of its Law of Return. Its treatment of these groups, however, stands in stark contrast to that experienced by other refugees and asylum seekers–many of whom face detention and deportation. Most recently, the country’s Interior Ministry announced […]
Latvia: Covid-19 and Detention
Latvia has violently pushed back and arbitrarily detained scores of refugees and migrants, including children, in secretive tented camps along its border with Belarus, says a recently published Amnesty International report. The rights group contends that authorities have used undue force including torture to stop “illegal crossings” since declaring a state of emergency in mid-2021. […]
Australia: Covid-19 and Detention
On 7 October, Australia’s Commonwealth Ombudsman (CO) and Human Rights Commissioner (HRC) published a joint statement expressing concern regarding the country’s use of hotels for detaining refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers–in some cases for years on end. Drawing on observations gathered by the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman in its role as Australia’s National Preventive […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
The number of victims of trafficking detained in the UK has likely tripled in the past five years, says a new report published by the Helen Bamber Foundation in early October. Despite broad recognition of the vulnerabilities faced by trafficking and slavery victims, the report says, the UK government is treating survivors as criminals rather […]
