El informe presentará las disposiciones legales pertinentes así como la jurisprudencia de mecanismos internacionales y regionales de derechos humanos. El Relator Especial tiene la intención de examinar, entre otros, los temas y objetos de preocupación siguientes: (i) Justificación y razones de detención; (ii) Regímenes de detención; (iii) Condiciones de detención y aplicación de respaldos legales; (iv) Necesidades específicas y problemas de protección de los grupos vulnerables de migrantes (niños, mujeres, familias y migrantes con problemas de salud mental). Se hará hincapié en las buenas prácticas y alternativas a la detención.
Sus contribuciones y sugerencias serán particularmente apreciadas, incluso a través de distintos materiales e informes que fueron publicados y que consideren relevantes.

Les estaríamos muy agradecidos si pudieran mandar sus contribuciones al Relator Especial antes del 30 de enero de 2012, a través de la Oficina de la Alta Comisionada de los derechos humanos (Sra. Christel Mobech, cmobech@ohchr.org , y Sra. Federica Donati, fdonati@ohchr.org , tel. +41 (0) 22 917 9127/ +41 (0) 22 917 9496, copiando migrants@ohchr.org ).

This was the first year that irregular migration was a major theme at the GFMD, with the issues of criminalization, rights and family-based migratory frameworks also central.

Civil society concerns continue to be raised regarding the lack of a normative global governance framework on migration, that GFMD sits outside a normative/UN system, and that migration continues to be viewed from a national security lens and not on human security and protection.

Immigration detention was a key point of discussion, including the urgent need for alternatives to immigration detention. The IDC intervention on this is listed below.

With few IDC members attending, and immigration detention, refugee, asylum seeker and stateless persons not a core agenda item, it was beneficial to have the Secretariat attend. IDC Director Grant Mitchell was asked to be on the writing team to develop the statement to states attending, and this included a call to states to not detain vulnerable groups and to explore alternatives to immigration detention.

A big thank you to the Internation Catholic Migrant Commission for their great working in organising the GFMD Civil Society Days.

Read the final report to states

A new report by IDC member Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe has concluded that detaining migrants is unnecessary because more humane non-custodial alternatives exist in Europe.

The report is based on in-depth interviews by JRS Europe with 25 migrants participating in alternative to detention programmes in Belgium, Germany and the UK. It found that although community-based measures are clearly a step in the right direction, unless they are accompanied by appropriate legal, social and other support, migrants can be forced into destitution.

“Community-based measures are more humane than detention, so long as migrants are given adequate support”, said Philip Amaral, JRS Europe Advocacy Officer and author of the report.

The report goes further in highlighting that community-based alternatives are five times cheaper than immigration detention, which costs states like Belgium and the UK as much as 200 euro per day. In times of economic crisis, EU states should implement cost-effective alternatives to detention, rather than waste precious resources on a harmful and ineffective system.

“Detention is akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nutshell. It does not make sense to deprive the liberty of large groups of migrants on the assumption that a minority would abscond from the authorities”, said Mr Amaral.

In each of the three projects that JRS researched, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants live freely in the community with few restrictions. The individuals and families who were interviewed expressed a strong desire to fully cooperate with the national authorities, based on their interest to resolve their cases as effectively as possible.

“Alternatives-to-detention work best when they are linked with improvements in the larger system. The migrants with whom we spoke strive to be honest in their dealings with the national authorities. They ask to be treated in a dignified and fair manner, with access to good legal advice and basic social support – conditions that are necessary for effective asylum and immigration systems ”, concluded Mr Amaral.

JRSEuropeFromDeprivationToLiberty20122011

Civil society urges governments to uphold rights and ensure family-based policies

International Migrants’ Day

Melbourne, December 18, 2011. On the occasion of International Migrants’ Day 2011, the International Detention Coalition (IDC) urges states around the world to uphold the rights of undocumented migrants. These individuals are often isolated and neglected in the community, and subject to policies such as criminalization, arrest, detention and deportation, that cause unnecessary suffering and family separation.

The IDC call follows the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) in Geneva where civil society groups from around the world highlighted the devastating impact of criminalization and detention on irregular and undocumented migrants, including vulnerable groups such as children, women, families, the elderly and unwell.
For the full press release please click here: Media Release Int Migrations Day 2011 Final

Regional meeting in Malaysia address concerns about the growing use of immigration detention and the need for alternatives to detention in Asia Pacific

Kuala Lumpur, 25th November 2011. Fifty non-governments organization (NGOs) from 18 countries met on Thursday and Friday to address the growing problem of immigration detention in the Asia Pacific region. Increasingly countries are using immigration detention in the first instance to manage irregular migration, even where there are no valid security concerns. International research has found that immigration detention is damaging, costly and does not deter irregular migration. Alternatives to detention exist and proven to be cheaper, humane and effective.

Read the full press release below

Press Release: NGOs urge Asia Pacific governments to end the immigration detention of children

Sixty participants from 17 countries across a broad spectrum of the western hemisphere tackled immigration detention in the first IDC Americas region workshop held in Mexico City last week. The event was co-hosted by IDC´s regional representative, Sin Fronteras, IAP, an organization with over ten years experience working in immigration detention centers in Mexico. The focus of the three-day workshop was to bring primarily Latin American and Caribbean groups together, with some key US participation, to share experiences, identify regional issues and work towards regional collaboration on immigration detention.

It became clear that the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants is a growing concern throughout the region, even in some countries that traditionally have not detained undocumented migrants or asylum seekers. In particular, participants identified issues such as the increasingly punitive and discriminatory use of immigration detention, the continued criminalization of irregular migration and trend towards institutionalizing security concerns in recently implemented migration law and policy, and the limited access to detention centres for monitoring purposes, as well as the use of detention centres, prisons and ad hoc facilities across the region in conditions and standards lower than international standards.

Participants identified several good practices in the region such as a presumption against detention in Argentina and countries like Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela who do not detain asylum seekers. Furthermore, despite the obvious challenges presented in the nature of much of the region as a transit corridor to the United States, NGO groups took the opportunity to explore and propose creative solutions to the situations they identified.
Finally, NGOs across Central, North and South America, as well as the Caribbean, agreed to develop a regional network in order to work together to address the growing immigration detention concerns and contribute to highlighting the region´s issues in the international political and public arena. The IDC will coordinate these regional initiatives from its representation in Mexico City.

The IDC and Sin Fronteras also held an engaging meeting with the Mexican government, who agreed to work with NGOs on exploring and developing alternatives to detention for vulnerable groups. The IDC and Sin Fronteras also proposed alternatives to the government in an interview with the leading newspaper Reforma.
In addition to this, the IDC and Sin Fronteras held a successful press conference which introduced the issue of alternatives to detention to public opinion.

Gisele Bonnici, regional coordinator for the Americas

Read the IDC & SF press release (Spanish only)

Watch Grant Mitchell and Nancy Perez’ interview with Reforma online (English & Spanish translations)

Read the exclusive report below
Nota de Prensa IDC Sin Front Eras

This roundtable followed the global roundtable on alternatives to detention which took place in Geneva in May, and was aimed at shifting the dialogue on immigration detention in Western Europe as well as encouraging the development and implementation of alternatives.

The IDC’s Community Assessment and Placement model was a central feature of discussions as a way for States to analyse their current detention system and explore steps to implement alternatives. The Council of Europe and others raised the IDC research as a viable way forward for the region.

A number of government’s presented their work on alternatives, including Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK, with discussion on how to improve programs to ensure they are not based on enforcement and removal models, but on early intervention, engagement, building trust and exploring all options for individuals awaiting a final decision in their case.

It is hoped that this regional roundtable will lead to more concrete national discussions and further roundtables on implementation of alternatives, with opportunities identified in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

The IDC was joined by IDC members including Detention Action, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe, Amnesty International, France Terre d’ Asile, CIRÉ, Refugee Action and European Council on Refugees & Exiles (ECRE), in exploring ways forward, which included a discussion on organizing a European regional immigration detention workshop with members and key stakeholders to identify priorities and strategies for the region.

27 participants attended from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, including civil society, human rights commissions and UNHCR.

A number of shared concerns were identified across the region, including treatment and protection concerns, lack and limitations on access, asylum and legal provision and use of overcrowded prisons, which fall below international human rights standards. Groups also outlined the need for greater consultation, coordination and capacity building on immigration detention across the sub-region.

The role of the judiciary was found to be the strongest we have seen in the region, with advocacy opportunities explored and detailed in draft national action plans.

In particular a number of existing alternatives to immigration detention were identified, many of which are underutilised or not implemented. This include:

• Bangladesh – Bail; court orders

• India – Surety; registration

• Nepal – Payment of fines; release to family, UNHCR or civil society; community service order; provisional release

• Sri Lanka – Registration; Community shelter for asylum seekers

• Pakistan – Documentation; registration; bail; institutional surety bond.

Following the sub-regional workshop, civil society groups across the region will meet in Kuala Lumpur end of November for the Asia Pacific Immigration Detention Working Group Workshop, which will be an opportunity to further develop the regional action plan process, aimed at:

1. Ending detention by encouraging release, alternatives to detention and minimising the use of detention.

2. Improving conditions, protection and access to justice

We greatly appreciated the input and enthusiasm of members who attended and look forward to ongoing collaboration.

Grant Mitchell,

November 1, 2011

The IDC, together with IDC members in Japan, including the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), Forum for Refugees Japan (FRJ), the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) and UNHCR, have successfully held the first-ever national roundtable on alternatives to immigration detention in Japan.

Meeting the Japanese government and Ministry of Justice over four days, the IDC presented the findings of our research into alternatives to immigration detention, and explored their application in the Japanese context.

The national roundtable followed the outcomes of the previous 2009 visit by IDC representatives and the East Asian Regional Alternatives to Detention Roundtable held in South Korea in March, 2010. The Japanese government made a number of improvements to immigration detention following this roundtable, including:

• A clear policy to not detain children
• Reduction in overall detention numbers
• Partnership with JFBA and legal counselling
• Discussions on alternatives to detention

In addition, a Detention Monitoring Committee has also been established in the past year.

The IDC was given open access to a number of immigration detention centres during this recent visit, one of the first international organizations given such access. There are continuing concerns about the ongoing detention of asylum seekers and vulnerable groups, long-term detention and the impact on mental health, including high levels of self-harm.

Japan currently does not have any community-based reception system, and NGOs worked together during the roundtable to develop a range of strategies in expanding alternatives in the local context, including service models, policy and campaign activities. Further activities are planning to continue this work.

We are excited by the developments in Japan, and the work of our members in pushing for change in immigration detention law, policy and practice.

Grant Mitchell
15^th, October 2011

Last month, the Australian High Court ruled against the bilateral deal between Australia and Malaysia, which would have seen 800 asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia, sent to Malaysia. Following the court ruling, the Australian government sought the parliament’s support to make changes to the Migration Act to enable offshore processing to continue. This attempt to re-establish the so-called “Malaysian Solution”, allowing it to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, was quashed however when last week the Australian Parliament overturned this proposed legislation.

The IDC urges the Australian government to continue exploring alternatives to immigration detention and community placement of asylum seekers.

Publicly, the government and Prime Minister Julia Gillard remain committed to the Malaysia agreement, however given the lack of support in Parliament, the government has been forced to look at onshore processing options.

The government has announced that they will now process asylum seekers in Australia, with about 2,500 places currently free in detention centres and community detention. It has been reported that once those places are exhausted, bridging visas will be granted, allowing asylum seekers to live and work in the community lawfully, and to apply for limited welfare support. It has also been reported that other changes will occur, including faster processing times. Some of the measures to be undertaken for boat arrivals have already been in place successfully, for years for those asylum seekers who arrive by plane.

The IDC welcomes these announcements and urges the Australian government to continue exploring alternatives to immigration detention and community placement of asylum seekers. We would further urge the Australian Government to ensure that the reception needs of those being released into the community are adequately met, taking into account each individual’s needs.

Global research spanning two years conducted by La Trobe University and the IDC found cheaper alternatives that work effectively in the interests of government and the individual. Such alternatives maintain cooperation with authorities, including during return, while maintaining health and wellbeing.

We would reiterate that it has been found that alternatives to detention are reliable and work for the government, community and individuals. The research found high compliance rates in the community, including for those facing return, when individuals are supported to explore all legal avenues. Absconding rates were as low as 1%. In addition, independent and voluntary returns in the EU and Australia save approximately 70% compared to escorted removals.

Alternatives also cost less than immigration detention. An estimated cost saving of 93% was noted in Canada and 69% in Australia on alternatives to detention compared to regular detention costs.

International human rights law and standards indicate that alternatives to detention should be explored first, with detention used only as a last resort. The IDC has identified good practices from around the world, and introduces CAP, the Community Assessment and Placement model. This model identifies mechanisms currently in use which enforce immigration law without a heavy reliance on detention, highlights effective management in the community and assists governments to make informed decisions on appropriate placement and management. The handbook is an invitation for governments to review their immigration management policies and in light of the recent announcements in Australia, we would urge the Australian government to explore alternatives and the IDC’s CAP model further.

Recent Australian media reports:
Adviser wants onshore processing under the spotlight (ABC)
Asylum seekers may live in the community (ABC)
Bridging visas preferred model for boat people (Sydney Morning Herald)
Labor sticking to Malaysia asylum plan (ABC)
Government abandons plans for offshore processing of asylum seekers (The Australian)
Does mandatory detention work? (Adelaide Now)
Community sector demands end offshore processing (Pro Bono News)
Calls for community-based detention for asylum seekers (ABC)

It has become ‘a pattern on three continents where a handful of multinational security companies have been turning crackdowns on immigration into a growing global industry’. (New York Times, 28 September 2011)

In the United States for example, almost half of all beds in immigration detention centres are controlled by private companies and in Britain, the majority of its detention facilities are also run by for-profit contractors.

The New York Times article implies further, that these large companies, one of which is one of the largest private employers in the world, appear more concerned with profits than the wellbeing of those it detains and that as profits increase so too do allegations of abuse and reports of detainees suffering from violence, neglect and high levels of mental illness and despair.

According to New York Times journalist, Nina Bernstein,

‘the ballooning of privatized detention has been accompanied by scathing inspection reports, lawsuits and the documentation of widespread abuse and neglect, sometimes lethal.

Human rights groups say detention has neither worked as a deterrent nor speeded deportation, as governments contend, and some worry about the creation of a “detention-industrial complex” with a momentum of its own.’ (Nina Bernstein, New York Times)

Read Nina Bernstein’s full article here

Media in the USA:

Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn A Profit (New York Times)

Private immigration jails make big bucks locking up the poor (NY Daily News)

Other media:

Serco- The biggest UK company you have never heard of (YouTube clip)

Human Rights Watch has recently published a report  which not only highlights appalling conditions in a number of Greece’s detention centres but also implicates FRONTEX, as having a role in and responsibility for exposing migrants to inhuman and degrading detention conditions during four months beginning late in 2010 in Greece’s Evros region.

The report highlighted appalling conditions in five detention centres in north-east Greece close to the border with Turkey, with males and females herded together in overcrowded cells, allegations of rape, unaccompanied minors also dumped in packed “cages” with adult males.

Beds were scarce, toilet and washing facilities almost nonexistent, medical help rare, and beatings common for protesters.

In one detention centre, the report found “unaccompanied children mixed with unrelated adults in overcrowded cells. Sewage was running on the floors, and the smell was hard to bear. Greek guards wore surgical masks when they entered the passageway between the large barred cells.” (The Guardian, September 2011)

The report is based on interviews with 65 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Greece in November and December 2010 and February 2011, as well as with Frontex and Greek police officials.

Read press release and download full report by Human Rights Watch
Article by Human Rights Watch’s Bill Frelick- Sharing Greece’s Asylum Shame

Other  media:
Greece criticized by Human Rights Watch on detention facilities (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
EU border police ‘turning blind eye’ to abuse of migrants in Greece (The Guardian)
EU complicit in Greek abuse of migrants, watchdog says (EU Observer)
HRW Report: Frontex Exposes Migrants to Abusive Conditions in Greece (Migrants At Sea)

From September 26-28, the International Detention Coalition  (IDC) in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches(MECC) hosted the first Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Immigration Detention Workshop.

The 3-day workshop was held in Beirut and attended by more than 35 participants from both IDC member organizations and other civil society actors working on immigration detention.  Mr Ghassan Moukheiber, member of the Lebanese parliament, opened the workshop on Monday September 26. 9 countries were represented, with participants from organizations in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman and Turkey, as well as from a Hong Kong based organization working on rights for migrant workers in the MENA region.   Representatives from UNHCR, OHCHR, and UNICEF also attended, along with ICRC observers.

The workshop was the first opportunity for civil society groups across the region to come together and explore regional legislation, policy and practice of immigration detention, as well as the impact of detention on vulnerable people and the importance of monitoring places of detention.  The workshop included interactive sessions, providing participants with the opportunity to present their experience, skills and ideas for action.

“Public opinion and political expediency have impacted the need for protection of asylum-seekers  in a negative way. Among these negative consequences, we note with deep regret that detention of asylum seekers and other people in need of protection is rising and it is no longer used as last resort for exceptional cases. These persons who are looking for protection or for ways of trying to survive are literally locked up and guarded as if they were criminal prisoners, and children too are placed in the same condition. Very often their living arrangements in detention lead to distinctively deteriorative effects upon the individual person. The prison-like environments existing in many detention centers, the isolation from the ‘outside world’, the unreliable flow of information and the disruption of a life plan, affect the physical and mental health of asylum-seekers and bring about psychological stress, depression and self-uncertainty, decreased appetite and varying degrees of insomnia. The manner in how detainees see themselves is significantly impacted by detention. In this context, self-perception becomes an important indicator of the effects of detention because as an administrative measure, it should not bring such detrimental personal consequences.  It is, therefore, urgent that alternatives to detention be further developed and promoted as, for example, would be expanding community based supervised programs, the introduction of monitoring and reporting mechanisms,  the formation of support groups, of drop-in centers, adding to the capacity of  open house projects so that at least families with children may reside in a safe living environment. In this way, administrative detention becomes the very last resort.”

Read the full Statement by H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva at the 62^nd Session  of the Executive Committee of the UNHCR.

Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Holy See around immigration detention of children

Beirut, 30 September 2011. Thousands of people are held in immigration detention in the Middle East and North Arica on any given day. This practice is expensive, can harm the health and wellbeing of those detained and has been found to be ineffective at deterring irregular migrants. To address this growing human rights issue, the first-ever regional workshop on immigration detention was held in Beirut this week by the International Detention Coalition (IDC) with the assistance of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). Participants discussed a new model for community placement of irregular migrants and asylum seekers that can be applied across the region. Community based alternatives were highlighted as cheaper andmore effective in meeting the interests of government and individuals. Such alternatives adequately ensure individuals maintain cooperation with authorities, including during return.

In light of recent events across North Africa and the Middle East, participating NGOs highlighted the need for more alternatives to immigration detention, especially for vulnerable groups such as children and young people, who are most affected by detention policies.

The International Detention Coalition (IDC) is a global network of civil society organizations that work to ensure the humane treatment of irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees worldwide. Many people reside in a country without legal documentation for a variety of reasons, e.g. because their work permits expire, because they have fled persecution and are seeking asylum, or because they were born in a country to foreign parents who did not manage to officially register their child at birth. Governments worldwide increasingly use immigration detention in these instances. This worrying trend is not in the spirit of international human rights law, hence the need for a regional meeting on the issue.

Mr Ghassan Moukheiber, member of the Lebanese parliament, opened the workshop on immigration detention on Monday, September 26. The three-day workshop was held in Beirut and attended by IDC members and other civil society actors working on immigration detention. Representatives from ten countries across the region, including Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan took part. The IDC hosted the workshop in collaboration with regional representative, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). The workshop mapped immigration detention legislation, policy and practice across the region, an effort that up until now had not been undertaken in a systematic manner.

Participants shared information and skills through facilitated training sessions on monitoring places of detention, working with vulnerable individuals in detention, international legal standards and alternatives to detention. One of the main outcomes of the workshop was an agreement to continue regional collaboration among civil society organizations on the issues.

“We have realized that our colleagues in other Arab nations face the same challenges when it comes to advocating for the release of vulnerable people from immigration detention. The contacts we established this week will make groups more effective in their national work” explained Seta Hadeshian from the Middle East Council of Churches.

The regional meeting also applied findings from the IDC’s international research into alternatives to detention and found that they would yield numerous benefits for countries in the region. By only detaining as a very last resort governments would be following international law and able to establish humane procedures. Community-based alternatives to immigration detention are reliable and work for the government, community and individuals.

Grant Mitchell, IDC Director, said, “There are effective, humane and cost-effective alternatives to immigration detention that are achieving high compliance rates and cost less than detention.  These can easily be expanded for individuals subject to return and removal.”

The IDC welcomes the increasing recognition, at the UN level, including this meeting of the Committee on Migrant Workers, of the growing criminalisation and detention of irregular migrants, the detrimental effect of immigration detention and the need for the exploration and development of alternatives to immigration detention, particularly children.

There has been some encouraging discussion of alternatives to immigration detention at an international level and some countries have established models that demonstrate alternatives can work well and cost less than detention. However, detention continues to be widely used as measure of first resort, without proper consideration of viable community- based mechanisms.

There is much more work to be done to build on these positive developments and ensure the rights, dignity and wellbeing of migrants, refugees, stateless persons and asylum seekers affected by immigration detention.

Identified gaps at the international level include the need for greater monitoring and reporting on places of immigration detention, including countries that have recently begun to implement immigration detention policies. With access to detention facilities continuing to be limited or non-existent in many countries, increased advocacy is needed to encourage states to accede to the CAT and the OPCAT.

There is a need for enhanced coordination across UN agencies on immigration detention, and further consultation and collaboration with civil society groups on research, advocacy, education and service provision to detainees, such as legal advice and social and health services.

In addition, with governments are cooperating bilaterally and multilaterally in detention initiatives that attempt to restrict migration flows and the growing regionalization of immigration detention, regional and national dialogue on alternatives to detention and improving conditions and protection of those in detention is urgently needed.

 
IDC Submission to the Committee on Migrant Workers Sept 2011

‘growing worries about “the perilous and frightening conditions of detention” at immigration removal centers [and] that coupled with “disturbingly inadequate” healthcare offered to detainees amount to “a lethal cocktail” and “a disaster waiting to happen”.’ (PressTV, August 6, 2011)

Concerns are that individuals are not receiving adequate health care and that conditions in detention are leading to greater numbers of people suffering from mental heath problems as a direct result of their detention. This was also highlighted in a recent High Court decision in the UK in which it was found that the Uk Border Agency had subjected a man to inhuman or degrading treatment while in detention (see link below for further information and another decision relating to unlawful detention).

News reports:

• Failed asylum seeker found dead at Campsfield detention centre (The Guardian)
• Police probe detention facility deaths (PressTV)

Further information:

• British High Court rules UK Border Agency subjected man to inhuman or degrading treatment in detention (Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, UK)
• High Court rules that a detention just short of 5 years under Immigration Act 1971 was unlawful throughout (Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, UK)
• Medical Justice Network UK
• Global Detention Project UK Detention Profile

View the full profile.