Despite decades of reports documenting concerns about the operation and impact of its detention system, the UK is currently seeking to massively expand its immigration detention capacity. A recent report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons highlights serious shortcomings in the treatment of female immigration detainees across the country. Detention Capacity Expansion Plans The UK […]
Europe
Lithuania: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
Together with our partner in Lithuania, the Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), the GDP submitted a joint report to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) examining Lithuania’s immigration detention laws and policies. Highlighting Lithuania’s failure to implement key recommendations it accepted during the third cycle of the UPR in 2022, the report documents ongoing concerns […]
Serbia: Rights at Risk Amidst Ongoing Ad Hoc, De-Facto Detention
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. […]
Lithuania: Follow-Up Report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
This submission assesses Lithuania’s implementation of recommendations set out in the CESCR’s 2023 Concluding Observations, specificallly addressing the treatment of asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. […]
Albania: Submission to the UN Committee against Torture
Albania operates a single dedicated immigration detention facility, the Karreç Detention Centre. In a submission to the UN Committee against Torture, the GDP raised concerns regarding conditions in the facility, as well as reports of the use of ad hoc detention sites and the country’s facilitation of Italian-managed detention centres on its territory. […]
European Court Ruling Challenges Italy–Albania Detention Deal and Other Externalisation Plans
On 1 August, the European Court of Justice delivered a landmark ruling on Italy’s application of the “safe country of origin” concept, delivering a blow to the country’s offshore asylum processing scheme in Albania. Beyond Italy, the ruling has wider implications across Europe, where it is likely to impact new EU asylum regulations due to come into force in June 2026, as well as EU Member States’ efforts to externalise their own migration management schemes. […]
Ireland: Growing Crackdown on Immigration and Asylum
Facing increasing pressures on its shared border with Northern Ireland and sharply rising asylum requests, Ireland has ramped up border controls and deportations. Growing Crackdown on Immigration in Ireland and Northern Ireland Recent reports reveal increasing immigration restrictions in Ireland, following a spike in irregular arrivals from the UK via Northern Ireland. According to the […]
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Reports of Pushbacks, Detention of Children and Inadequate Conditions in Detention Facilities
Recent reports reveal the abusive treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including violent pushbacks, arbitrary arrests, and the detention of children. Conditions in the country’s detention facilities have also been the subject of harsh criticism for their abysmal conditions and for failing to meet minimal standards. In a joint submission for […]
Slovakia: Detention Increases as Country Continues Migrant and Asylum Crackdown
Slovakia has been among the more outspoken opponents of the EU Migration Pact, adopted in April 2024, with the country’s new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico stating that Brussels “cannot order a country that it must accept, in the Slovak case, up to 300 migrants you know nothing about, or pay 20,000 euros for each […]
Lithuania: Reports of Arbitrary Detention, Physical Abuse, and Pushbacks
Recent reports highlight ongoing abuses of migrants and asylum seekers by Lithuanian border guards, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and pushbacks into Belarus. The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), a GDP partner in Lithuania, recently documented three cases involving unlawful restrictions of migrants’ liberty, abuses by Lithuanian authorities, and pushbacks to Belarus. According to their report, […]
