International Detention Monitor Issue 25: December 2011

Welcome to the final issue of the IDC's International Detention Monitor e-newsletter for 2011! Thank you to for being a part of the IDC's vision and ongoing work over the past 12 months. From all of the staff at the IDC Secretariat, we hope that you enjoy a safe and happy holiday period and a positive and rewarding start to 2012!

IDC member Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa this month secured two court victories, pertaining to the rights of individuals in detention (archive photo).

International News: Global Forum for Migration & Development 2011

This month, the IDC was in attendance at the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD), in Geneva, which included two civil society days and a half day with the 160 governments present. This was the first year that irregular migration was a major theme at the Forum, with issues of criminalization, rights and family-based migratory frameworks also central.

Civil society concerns continued 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 globally for alternatives to immigration detention to be explored and implemented. Read more Read final GFMD report

Other international news:
FAHAMU Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter December 2011
IOM World Migration Report 2011: Communicating Effectively about Migration (some translations available)

Africa: Protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa through strategic litigation

IDC members approach the issue of immigration detention from many different angles, from government engagement and collaboration, research, advocacy and direct and practical support of detainees.  Strategic litigation to secure the rights of those in detention, and to ensure detention is only ever used as a last resort, is another strategy.

IDC regional representative and member in Southern Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), have used strategic litigation to great effect in South Africa.  This month LHR secured two further court victories, pertaining to the rights of those in detention to apply for refugee status, and also to the responsibility of the government to make the relevant offices readily available to that they can practically do so.  Read more about the outcomes in the two articles below.
Lawyers for Human Rights: Victory for refugees in Johannesburg, Judge taken to task over asylum seekers (Business Day)

Other regional news:
South Africa: Migrants’ health care hit by deportations (IRIN News) 
Malawi: Malawi registers sharp rise in illegal immigrants (Nyasa Times)

Middle East & Northern Africa: Forced returns from detention may lead to refoulement

People held in immigration detention face a multitude of protection threats, including refoulement.  This is particularly so when access to detention is limited by authorities.  IDC partner Human Rights Watch have recently raised concerns about Eritreans forcibly returned from Egypt to Eritrea, expressing fear that people forcibly returned to Eritrea are likely to face persecution. Concern amongst human rights groups in Israel also continues to mount for Eritreans and other Africans who are likewise facing forced return, with Prime Minister Netanyahu set to visit a number of African countries to discuss return of what he terms ‘illegal migrants’ or 'infiltrators'.  Read more in the articles below.

Member news:
Human Rights Watch: Egypt: Don’t deport Eritreans- Those Forcibly Returned Face Likely Persecution
Physicians for Human Rights/Hotline for Migrant Workers (Israel): Refugees held hostage, tortured in the Sinai (Al Arabiya)

Other regional news:
Israel: Israeli jail grappling with swell of illegal African immigrants (Haaretz), Eritreans flee from dictatorship to detention (IPS), Netanyahu set to present plan to tackle illegal immigration from Africa (Haaretz), Every African ‘infiltrator’ will return home (The Jerusalem Post), Israeli cabinet oks plan to stanch flow of illegal African migrants (Washington Post), Israeli government to vote on PM's plan to stem illegal immigration  (Haaretz), Israel acts to curb illegal immigration from Africa (New York Times), Israel immigration program gets $160 million (Huffington Post), Netanyahu to travel to Africa in attempt to curb ‘illegal’ migration (American Renaissance News)
Lebanon: Beirut an imperfect haven for LGBTI refugees (Global Post)
Libya: Migrants in Libya face an uncertain future (Migrant Rights), UN: Former rebels hold 7000 detainees in Libya (Voice of America), Libyan rebels detaining thousands illegally, Ban ki-Moon reports  (The Guardian) , Libya and Italy revive 'friendship deal' (BBC News), Syrian refugees seek shelter in Libya (The Telegraph)

Europe: Almost 90 organisations across Europe call for an end to child detention

Close to 90 organisations in 15 European countries have joined with ECRE, Amnesty International European Institutions Office and the IDC to call on their governments to pledge to end detention of children for immigration purposes at the meeting of UN Member States to commemorate the anniversaries of the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. This was a wonderful outcome for the joint letter writing campaign which had been initiated by the IDC and we are grateful to our partners for aiding us in this collaboration.
The supporting NGOs wrote to their respective governments stating that they strongly believe that children, and in particular unaccompanied or separated children, should never be detained solely for immigration purposes given that immigration detention cannot be said to be in their best interests, ever.

As the IDC has documented in its research, alternatives to detention do exist and work and it is hoped that through this letter writing and future work in Europe as part of the IDC's global campaign to end child detention, that further positive outcomes will become apparent. Read article about letter writing initiative by ECRE

Other regional news:
Europe wide: Approximately 400,000 migrants sent back to the gates of the EU in 2010 (Le Monde, English translation), Boat tragedy off Moroccan coast, 4 dead, several boats rescued off Maltese, Italian and Libyan coasts (UN)
Austria: Even a year after Komani-deportation detention, children are taken into (The Greens, English translation)
Bulgaria: Bulgaria is facing an influx of illegals (Le Courriers des Balkans, English translation)
Cyprus: Video: Die vergessenen Fluechtlinge von Zypern/The forgotten refugees of Cyprus, German language only (ZDF), Inside Cyprus’ migrant detention centres (Amnesty International Livewire)
Denmark: New report by Refugees Welcome- Asylum Camp Limbo: A Report about Obstacles to Deportation
France: Are the conditions in the immigration detention center in Mayotte in violation of article 3 of the Convention? (European Court of Human Rights News)
Italy: In Italy, refugees live in homelessness and squalor (ProAsyl), Libya and Italy revive 'friendship deal' (BBC)
Malta: Newly arrived migrant dies at detention centre (Times of Malta)
Sweden: Limited confinement for rejected refugees in Sweden (Sveriges Radio)
Switzerland: Sans papiers, la methode musclee de la Suisse (English translation, HEBDO)
UK: Illuminating UK’s lethal detention & deportation conditions (Open Democracy), Bail for immigrants: A presumption of liberty? (Open Democracy)

Asia Pacific: Successful Immigration Detention Workshop held in Malaysia

The IDC, together with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) last month ran the Asia Pacific Regional Immigration Detention Working Group (IDWG) Workshop in Kuala Lumpur with about 50 participants from 18 countries attending. The workshop aimed to enhance collaboration, capacity and work on immigration detention in the region and to further expand implementing regional and national action plans. Participants then worked within their sub-regions to explore target messages, tactics and actions throughout the workshop, including groups from East, South and South East Asia. Discussions were vibrant, and strong ideas emerged on how to enhance opportunities to further release options for vulnerable groups, alternatives to detention, particularly on children in detention, and enhancing access and monitoring.
Read more of Grant Mitchell's blogpost

Member news:
Australian Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office: ACMRO welcomes govt move to allow asylum seekers into community (Catholic News)

Other regional news:
Australia: Australia will "pay the price" for mandatory detention (IRIN News), After the despair of detention, refugee finds new hope in the community (The Age), Gillard softens on refugees  (The Age), Doing the right thing can end boats hysteria (The Age), Detention firm fined 15m for care failure (Sydney Morning Herald), Australia eases policy on detaining asylum seekers  (New York Times), UN welcomes shift in policy (UN), Australia playing politics in asylum seeker debate (ABC), Australia to release 100 boatpeople a month (AFP),  Warning bells before detainee riots (The Age), Australia’s “boat-people” be released from detention (Al Jazeera), Boat people deserve equal rules
Taiwan: New amendment on detention of foreign nationals takes effect

U.S. pledges to improve release practices

At the "Ministerial-level Meeting of all Member States of the United Nations in Geneva" on December 7-8 the U.S. government made a  pledge on five issues including detention. "On detention, the U.S. Government pledges to work with UNHCR and other stakeholders on improved release practices, including reviewing and amending, as necessary, current policies to better ensure that individuals in immigration detention, including asylum seekers, are released from detention in a safe and responsible manner." 
Read the full statement

Member news:

ACLU: ACLU Practice Advisory on Prolonged Mandatory Detention and Bond Eligibility: Diop v. ICE/Homeland Security
Michelle Brane of the Women's Refugee Commission: Blog on extending prison rape sanctions to immigration detention centers. (Huffington Post)
Human Rights First: Felice Gaer & Richard Land call the US detention of asylum seekers shameful & unnecessary 
National Immigrant Justice Center: New report: Not too late to reform, Press release: NIJC calls on US government to end detention of HIV positive immigrants

Other regional news:
USA: Sexual abuse in immigrant detention centers- New regulations go into effect in 2012 (New America Media), Immigrant detention centers in Kentucky, Illinois violate rights, report says (Latino Fox News), Stop the indefinite detention of immigrants  (Change.org), New York Times report- A broken, dangerous system (New York Times), Homeland Security Dept on immigrant detention (New York Times), The immigration detention system- Dangerously broken & in need of reform (Physicians for Human Rights blog) 

Mexico: Chiapas/Tabasco: “The forgotten border” press-conference (SIPAZ Blog), New bill proposes to modify notorious indefinite detention provisions in Mexico's Migration Law (Mexican government website, Spanish only)

Alternatives to Detention: More humane non-custodial alternatives exist, according to latest JRS Europe report

Detaining migrants is unnecessary because more humane non-custodial alternatives exist, according to the latest JRS Europe report, From Deprivation to Liberty. The report is based on in-depth interviews with 25 migrants participating in alternative to detention programmes in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Read more