Following the CJEU’s ruling on 14 May, (see our 15 April update on Hungary) in which the Court held that Hungary had been illegally detaining asylum-seekers as “the placing of asylum seekers or third-country nationals… in the Rözke transit zone… must be classified as ‘detention,’” the government announced it will be closing transit zone camps. […]
Human Rights
Croatia: Covid-19 and Detention
Allegations of pushbacks at Croatia’s borders with Serbia and Bosnia have increased in recent years – as the GDP reported in its 2019 country profile. According to the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), these pushbacks have escalated during the pandemic, “confirming that illegal removal practices have not stopped, in spite of the formal closure of […]
India: Covid-19 and Detention
In mid-April, India’s Supreme Court directed the government to release “illegal foreigners” detained in Assam for more than two years in order to avoid overcrowding. Assam has become a hotspot for immigration detention in India, as scholar Sujata Ramachandran reported in a 2019 Working Paper for the Global Detention Project: “The country’s detention and deportation […]
Germany: Covid-19 and Detention
In response to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, which has been sent to all national contact points of the European Migration Network, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) repeated its standard response to questions concerning immigration detention in the country: that all such queries must be forwarded to state (Land) authorities. They […]
Cambodia: Covid-19 and Detention
Cambodia has had few confirmed cases of Covid-19, numbering just over 100 as of mid-May. The country has taken a number of measures to prevent the spread of the disease. On 20 March, the border with Vietnam was closed and general entry restrictions were implemented for foreign travelers. On 30 March, it suspended the issuance […]
Ecuador: Covid-19 and Detention
While the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has exploded in Brazil, Ecuador has experienced the region’s highest number of deaths per capita and the country has introduced strict containment measures – including curfews between 2pm and 5am, and heavy fines for quarantine violations. Having closed its land borders, the government launched a military operation in […]
Nigeria: Covid-19 and Detention
Amnesty International has warned about the potential spread of Covid-19 in the country’s overcrowded prisons and detention centres. It highlights the case of Kaduna Prison which although having a capacity of only 473 inmates, as of early April had “1,480 prisoners; while Enugu Maximum Security Prison with capacity for 638, now has 2,077 prisoners.” In […]
Brazil:Covid-19 and Detention
Brazil has the most Covid-19 cases and deaths in South America, (241,080 cases and 16,122 deaths as of 18 May). However, the Bolsonaro government has been notoriously dismissive of the pandemic, with the president saying that “unemployment, hunger and misery will be the future of those who support the tyranny of total isolation.” On 23 […]
Malta: Covid-19 and Detention
Global Detention Project Survey completed by the Aditus Foundation (Claire Delom) in Malta. IS THERE A MORATORIUM ON NEW IMMIGRATION DETENTION ORDERS BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? No HAVE PEOPLE BEEN RELEASED FROM IMMIGRATION DETENTION BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? Some asylum-seekers who could provide an address and justify a place to stay were released. […]
Cyprus: Covid-19 and Detention
According to information sent to the GDP by the Cyprus Refugee Council (CRC), Cyprus has not ordered a moratorium on new immigration detention orders. Instead, the government’s newly initiated Action Plan – developed before the start of the pandemic in order to address the large number of asylum applications, but presented as a response to […]
