Lebanon’s legal framework for immigration enforcement does not provide protection to children, leaving migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking children vulnerable to detention, imprisonment, and expulsion. In a joint submission, the GDP and CLDH highlighted concerns to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, ahead of its preparation of its List of Issues Prior to Reporting. […]
MENA
Tunisia: Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Since 2023, Tunisia has adopted a particularly hardline approach to migration, and observers have documented a surge in violence against African migrants including raids, arbitrary arrests, detentions, and mass deportations to the borders with Algeria and Libya. These practices have coincided with growing European support for the country’s border control and migration “management.” In a joint submission with FTDES, the GDP highlights concerns to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. […]
Israel: Submission to the UN Committee against Torture
In a joint submission with the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, the GDP has raised concerns with the UN Committee against Torture over Israel’s detention laws and practices, highlighting new and proposed legislation permitting indefinite detention and deportations in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, the detention of vulnerable groups, inadequate protections for non-nationals during the Iran-Israel war, and the failure to support migrant victims of the 7 October Hamas attack. […]
Sudanese Refugees in Egypt: “Voluntary” Returns Amidst Intensified Detention and Deportation Campaign
Egypt has recently returned hundreds of Sudanese nationals as part of a new “voluntary” transportation scheme that is jointly administered by Egypt and Sudan. Although officials describe the initiative in humanitarian terms, the returns–in addition to the hundreds of thousands of additional “voluntary” returns that have been reported since last year–coincide with larger efforts by Egypt to ramp up the targeting of refugees and asylum seekers for detention and deportation. The crackdown is creating a climate of fear amongst refugee communities and has raised questions about whether the returns can be considered “voluntary.” […]
Morocco: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking children in Morocco are extremely vulnerable to detention and other harmful immigration enforcement measures despite years of efforts by civil society organisations and human rights monitoring bodies to advocate for reforms. […]
Bulgaria: The Alarming Case of Detained Saudi Journalist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi
Bulgaria’s extremely long immigration detention of a Saudi law student and human rights activist reveals the degrading conditions in which migrants and asylum seekers are detained in the country. It also reflects a broader trend in Europe and globally: the de facto use of immigration detention for purposes that may have nothing to do with […]
Trapped Between Borders: Tunisia’s Alarming Treatment of Sub-Saharan Migrants
Tunisia has come under renewed criticism from rights groups after authorities rounded up sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers and forcefully relocated them to a buffer zone between the Tunisian and Libyan border. Videos shared online show men, women, and children–some with injuries–stranded close to the sea, reportedly without any food or water. Surging Discrimination According […]
“THIS IS A SLOW DEATH”: An Urgent Appeal on the Plight of Afghan Refugees Indefinitely and Arbitrarily Detained in the UAE
For a year and a half, thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban persecution have been trapped in a de-facto detention facility in the United Arab Emirates. Evacuated from Afghanistan by private actors, the refugees have languished in prolonged arbitrary detention at an emergency evacuation compound in Abu Dhabi called the “Emirates Humanitarian City”. Evacuated, But […]
STATEMENT: The Impact of the Türkiye/Syria Earthquake on Immigration Detention Centres and Detainees (International Refugee Rights Association & Global Detention Project)
The catastrophic earthquake that hit southeastern Türkiye and neigbouring Syria on 6 February 2023, as well as the dozens of aftershocks that have hit the region since, have had a devastating impact on millions of people in the region and caused the death of more than 40,000 people. The Turkish government has declared a state […]
Oral Submission: GDP Partner, IRRA, Provides Input on Issues Related to Immigration Detention in Türkiye at the UN Committee on Migrant Workers’ 35th Session
On Monday 19th September, the GDP’s Türkiye-based partner – the International Refugee Rights Association (IRRA) – delivered a virtual presentation at the 35th Session of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. This oral submission drew the committee’s attention to Türkiye’s laws and practices […]
