Together with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Ghana-based Democracy Hub, and the Global Strategic Litigation Council, the Global Detention Project has urged the UN Committee on Migrant Workers to assess the country’s recent agreement with the United States to accept deported third-country nationals, as well as its subsequent detention and removal of these individuals. […]
Externalisation
Guatemala: Joint Submission to the UN Committee on Migrant Workers
In a submission to the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers ahead of its adoption of a List of Issues Prior to Reporting for Guatemala, the Global Detention Project and the American Friends Service Committee called on the Committee to request detailed information from Guatemala regarding its recent agreement with the United States to accept deported third-country nationals. Together, we also urged the Committee to seek information on the detention and removal of these individuals to enable effective scrutiny of the impacts of this scheme. […]
Libya: EU Plans in Eastern Libya Threaten Increased “Pullbacks” and Detentions
Amidst growing numbers of irregular departures from eastern Libya towards the Greek islands of Gavdos and Crete, internal EU documents reveal plans to collaborate with the country’s de facto leader Gen. Khalifa Haftar to intercept irregularly departing migrants. The plans could significantly expand Libya’s migrant “pullbacks,” leading to more people being stranded in the country’s […]
Cameroon: Another Third-Country Removal Scheme Ending with Detention
This year, the Trump administration has quietly deported seventeen men and women to Cameroon under a murky arrangement that is part of broader U.S. efforts to send “unremovable” migrants and asylum seekers to third countries. Upon arrival in the capital Yaoundé, the deportees were reportedly detained and threatened with removal to their countries of origin. […]
EU: New Return Regulation Threatens to Significantly Expand Detention, Warn UN Special Procedures
In a communication to the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of the European Union, 16 UN Special Procedure mandate holders have raised alarm over the risks posed by the EC’s proposed Return Regulation, expressing serious doubts about its compatibility with international human rights obligations. […]
Externalisation and the Emergence of a Global Immigration Detention Gulag Archipelago: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
Drawing attention to the connection between externalisation and the spread of arbitrary immigration detention practices across the globe, this submission highlights the ongoing violations committed against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers forcibly removed to third countries under migration and asylum management deals. […]
Uzbekistan: Cooperation with EU and US Raises Questions about Human Rights Obligations
Uzbekistan’s immigration laws and practices have received little international attention. However, new arrangements with both the European Union and the United States are raising questions about the country’s commitments to its human rights obligations. […]
Externalisation: ACHPR Calls on African States to Protect Migrants Amid Rising Deals
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has issued a new resolution cautioning against the externalisation of migration governance and urging African States to safeguard the rights and dignity of migrants deported from non-African countries. Adopted amidst a surge in bilateral agreements between African governments and external partners–in particular the United States and the European Union–the resolution echoes similar warnings from other international monitoring bodies and underscores the serious risks associated with externalised migration enforcement schemes. […]
Kosovo, Emerging Partner in Efforts to Outsource Migration Control
In October, reports revealed that Kosovo was in discussion with the UK to receive rejected asylum seekers as part of the UK government’s efforts to set up “return hubs” abroad–a move observers have condemned as punitive and potentially threatening migrants’ rights. Both the United States and Denmark have also made deals with the country in recent years, part of a broader and increasingly concerning trend of externalising migration controls, including detention, to third countries. […]
Uganda: Submission to the UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Uganda’s important role in hosting refugees recently received global attention after it agreed to a deal with the United States to accept deported third-country nationals who have pending asylum claims in the United States. While this agreement has raised concerns about Uganda’s commitments to uphold its human rights and humanitarian commitments, it nevertheless follows a pattern of adopting increasingly restrictive policies and practices in recent years, undermining Uganda’s long-held reputation as a welcoming country. […]
