Global Detention Project

24/09/2026

Italy: "the case highlights a fundamental paradox: doctors are asked to determine whether someone is “fit” to be placed in immigration detention centres that many doctors regard as manifestly harmful to a person’s physical and mental health."

https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/italy-doctors-challenged-for-their-refusal-to-issue-fitness-for-detention-certificates-as-health-concerns-in-immigration-detention-centres-grow

22/09/2026

India: Renewed scrutiny of immigration detention — and persistent reports of abuse

We are pleased to see that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has raised serious concerns about India’s immigration detention laws and practices, echoing many of the concerns raised by the Global Detention Project (GDP) and Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) in a recent joint submission to the Committee.

As well as calling on India to amend its Immigration and Foreigners Act (2025), the committee also expressed concern about reports of abusive raids targeting Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims, following central government orders directing state authorities to identify, detain, and remove specific populations.

CERD’s review of India comes as recent reports reveal the surging arrests of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and acute concerns about the country’s detention and removal practices. Among those being targeted are trafficking victims from African countries, according to journalist Pari Saikia who has published a series of articles in The Guardian and other outlets about the plight of these victims. Women from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania have been trafficked to India under false promises of education or employment only to find themselves detained indefinitely, often with their children, in India.

In an email to the GDP, Saikia observed that “in Delhi’s detention centres, African women have been beaten for asking when they can go home, while African men with valid exit documents and tickets have reportedly been stopped from leaving for airports after refusing to pay bribes. This is not just cruelty, but rampant corruption and abuse of power. No person should have to pay for their freedom.”

Read the full piece here:

India faces renewed scrutiny over immigration detention as CERD calls for reforms amid reports of arbitrary detention, abuse, and unlawful removals.

03/08/2026

📢 The detention and deportation of child refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Tajikistan and Trinidad & Tobago: Raising concerns with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

In our latest UN advocacy, we submitted information to the CRC ahead of its reviews of Tajikistan and Trinidad & Tobago - raising concerns about the countries' detention and deportation policies.

** The CRC has repeatedly affirmed that children should never be placed in any form of immigration detention, including in Joint General Comment (No. 23/No.4), issued with the Committee on Migrant Workers in 2017, which affirms that “children should never be detained for reasons related to their or their parents’ migration status and States should expeditiously and completely cease or eradicate the immigration detention of children. Any kind of child immigration detention should be forbidden by law and such prohibition should be fully implemented in practice.”**

Tajikistan: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/tajikistan-joint-submission-to-the-un-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child

Trinidad & Tobago: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/trinidad-and-tobago-submission-to-the-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child

GDP urges the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to scrutinise Trinidad and Tobago’s detention of migrant children and returns of Venezuelan families.

21/07/2026

Since May, Sierra Leone has received two groups of third country nationals, deported from the United States–many of whom had U.S protection orders in place.

In a Note Verbale, Sierra Leone affirmed that it would treat the deported ECOWAS citizens in a manner consistent with the country’s domestic legislation and international obligations, notably under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

However, information provided to the GDP by an observer points to arrivals being detained in a hotel and pressured to return to their countries of origin.

🔗 https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/sierra-leone-reports-of-detention-but-limited-oversight-or-access

09/07/2026

New on our blog: Netherlands - Pushing for the Criminalisation of Irregular Status

Despite recent setbacks in passing migration and asylum reforms, Dutch authorities are now seeking to pass standalone legislation to make irregular stay a criminal offence. The proposed measure has been widely criticised as incompatible with international human rights standards.

Set against a backdrop of stricter family reunification rules, expanded return measures, a newly introduced two-tier asylum system, and persistent concerns surrounding detention conditions and regimes, the effort is part of the country’s increasingly restrictive approach to migration.

Read more: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/the-netherlands-pushing-for-the-criminalisation-of-irregular-status

23/06/2026

Since late 2025, the United States has been transferring individuals, including those with existing protection orders, to Equatorial Guinea under a secretive bilateral temporary transfer agreement that is similar to others set up by the U.S with countries across Africa and Latin America.

Public documentation reveals that upon arrival the deportees have been detained in a hotel in Malabo, and pressured to voluntarily return to the countries from which they originally fled.

Refoulement has already been documented, and UN human rights experts have issued an urgent appeal, warning that further returns would place individuals at imminent risk of irreparable harm.

https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/equatorial-guinea-third-country-transfers-to-one-of-the-most-corrupt-countries-in-the-world

28/05/2026

Tanzania: Allegations of Detention Amidst Coerced Returns

The Global Detention Project has received allegations from Burundian refugees in Tanzania reporting the detention of individuals who leave Nyarugusu refugee camp, restrictions on their movement within the camp, and increased harassment and intimidation reportedly aimed at encouraging departures from the country.

These allegations, which align with reports from other observers, suggest a broader pattern of pressure on Burundian refugees that coincides with efforts by Tanzanian authorities to close refugee camps and coerce returns.

Read more: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/tanzania-allegations-of-detention-amidst-coerced-returns

20/05/2026

📢 Our 2025 Annual Report is now live: *Building Momentum to Roll Back Immigration Detention*

In a year marked by expanding detention and deportation regimes worldwide, the report documents how the Global Detention Project continued to advance research, advocacy, and international engagement in defence of migrants', refugees', and asylum seekers' rights.

As one former detainee released from Welisara Detention Centre in Sri Lanka with support from the GDP and local partners shared:

“Although this experience has been challenging and unjust, it has made me truly aware of the power and hope represented by international human rights organizations and principled legal professionals. I will always remember and cherish the assistance and support provided by your organization.”

Some of the key highlights from the year include:

⭐ Impacting policy recommendations issued by international human rights mechanisms aimed at ending harmful detention measures in nearly two dozen countries.
⭐ Facilitating assistance for detainees through our global network of partners.
⭐ Using data to expose detention practices. We logged more than 10,000 data entries covering 200 countries and 840 detention centres.
⭐ Building an evidentiary record of detainee treatment aimed at piercing the opacity surrounding detention practices.
⭐ Documenting the growing number of bilateral agreements aimed at shifting responsibility for migration and asylum procedures to third countries.
⭐ Launching the GDP’s Lived Experience Fellowship to centre the expertise of former detainees, refugees, and migrants in advocacy and documentation work.

Read the full report here: https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/2025-annual-report-building-momentum-to-roll-back-immigration-detention

07/05/2026

In April, after the Democratic Republic of Congo announced the launch of a “temporary reception system for third country nationals,” a group of deportees from the United States arrived, marking the latest expansion of the Trump administration’s massive immigration crackdown and deportation agenda.

Upon arrival, the group were placed in a hotel from which they were reportedly prevented from leaving, raising credible fears of de facto detention.

With the DRC facing a severe and well-documented human rights crisis characterised by ongoing armed conflict, mass displacement, and widespread abuses by state and non-state actors, the choice of destination is a deeply troubling one.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/eKvQk-Mc

23/04/2026

Despite rights bodies calling for stronger protections for migrants on the "Southern Route," the UK & Kenya have signed an MOU on "border security" reinforcing a securitised approach to migration that includes detention in police stations & prisons.

Analysis of Kenya’s migration detention policies, examining the tension between national security and the protection of refugees and asylum seekers.