2nd Annual Meeting of the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) to End Child Immigration Detention
GENEVA (29 June 2015) – For the second year in a row the IDC, together with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), convened a multi-stakeholder meeting of child rights advocates from across the UN system and key civil society organisations.
Beginning with the March 2012 session of the UN Human Rights Council, child and migrant rights advocates, with the support of the IDC and OHCHR, launched the Global Campaign to End the Immigration Detention of Children. This campaign has now been endorsed by over 90 organisations in more than 40 countries, and continues to grow.
In September 2012, at the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s (CRC Committee) 2012 Day of General Discussion, states were called upon to “expeditiously and completely” cease the immigration detention of children and their parents, and to adopt alternatives to detention (ATD) that fulfill the best interests of the child and allow children to remain with their family members and/or guardians in non-custodial, community-based contexts while their immigration status is being resolved.12
Throughout 2013, exploratory meetings were held with key stakeholders to follow up on this strong recommendation and in December 2013, initial conversations were had regarding the formation of an inter- agency working group to further develop and guide a global strategy to end child immigration detention.
In March 2014, a side-event was held at the UN Human Rights Council to explore “A Global Strategy to End Child Immigration Detention.” This side event highlighted the increasing prioritization of the issue of ending child immigration detention across a number of key UN agencies, civil society, and states, and explored opportunities for UN and civil society partners to provide support and resources to states to effectively end the immigration detention of children as an achievable priority in the coming years.
Immediately following the side event, an informal meeting was hosted by OHCHR and the International Detention Coalition to discuss possible collaboration. The parties agreed to form an Inter-Agency Working Group to End Child Immigration Detention in order to more effectively collaborate on ending child immigration detention. Initial parties to this conversation included:
- Caritas Internationalis
- Human Rights Watch
- International Detention Coalition
- IOM
- Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Office of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- OHCHR
- PICUM
- Terre des Hommes
- UNHCR
- UNICEF
This Inter-Agency Working Group to End Child Immigration Detention is now working together on a global strategy towards ending immigration detention of children within a 5 year framework.
For more details, email [email protected]
Upcoming IDC Workshops at ASEAN People's Forum
The IDC will be co-hosting two workshops at the upcoming ASEAN People's Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference on 21-24 April 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The two workshops are
- Migrants in Detention, co-hosted by IDC and Migrant Forum in Asia (23 April).
- Children in the Context of Migration: Positive Practices from the ASEAN Region, co-hosted by IDC, Terres des Homnes, Migrant Forum in Asia and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (24 April)
Full details of the forum including times and venues of the workshops can be found here
The APF/ACSC is an annual forum of civil society organizations in ASEAN Member States. It is held as a parallel meeting to the ASEAN Summit of Heads of States. During APF/ACSC, civil society organizations discuss a range of topics of importance to the ASEAN region, including human rights, development, trade, environment, youth and culture issues. The output of the forum is a joint civil society statement and recommendations that are submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN government representatives.
Concern over Hungary’s plans to systematically detain and immediately deport asylum-seekers
The IDC joins its member organisation, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), in expressing deep concern regarding the Hungarian government’s plans to introduce legal amendments to systematically detain and immediately deport all irregular migrants, including asylum seekers.
In February 2015, the Prime Minister reportedly initiated a communication campaign against migrants and asylum-seekers on the pretext of the terrorist attacks in Paris in early January, which continued with a series of public statements, interviews and press conferences by senior government officials. Moreover a plenary debate in Parliament, titled “Hungary does not need 3 livelihood immigrants” was held on 20 February and a “national consultation” on the issue is to be held later in 2015.
A number of amendments are planned to the national asylum and immigration laws. These plans include enacting legislation that would enable state authorities to:
- immediately detain all irregular migrants, including asylum-seekers;
- immediately deport irregular migrants, including asylum-seekers considered as “livelihood immigrants”;
- accelerate asylum procedures so that a final decision could be taken within a few days;
- oblige irregular migrants and asylum-seekers to work while in Hungary in order to “earn their keep”.
“These plans would not only violate EU law and other international obligations, but following on a series of attacks on the rule of law since 2010, they would further undermine the country’s commitment to European democratic values,” stated the HHC in an information note published on 4 March 2015.
Hungary has experienced a sharp increase in asylum seekers over the past few years (twenty-fold between 2012 and 2014) and according to FRONTEX, the Serbian-Hungarian border section was the third main entry point to the EU for irregular migration. However, the proportion of foreign nationals living in Hungary remains comparatively low (1.4% of the population) and migrants are on average better educated and more active on the labour market (making greater contributions to social security and the health system) than Hungarian nationals. Despite this positive picture, in polls Hungary usually figures among the most xenophobic societies in the EU (see here for example).
Until the end of 2012, many asylum-seekers were held in immigration detention (idegenrendészeti ôrizet) in Hungary. The HHC, the UNHCR, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission strongly criticised this practice, questioning the legal ground of holding even first-time asylum-seekers in pre-deportation detention while the asylum proceedings were ongoing (see HHC information note). In response, Hungary introduced ‘asylum detention’ based on the Recast EU Reception Conditions Directive. In 2014, 4 829 asylum-seekers were held in asylum detention, often for several months.
But under international and EU law, detention of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants should only be used exceptionally and as a measure of last resort, after alternatives to detention have first been pursued. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that immigration detention is not an effective deterrent of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in either destination or transit contexts. International research has shown that detention is not only expensive and harmful, it also fails to impact on the choice of destination country and does not reduce numbers of irregular arrivals.
More information
- Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Hungarian Government reveals plans to breach EU asylum law and subject asylum-seekers to massive detention and immediate deportation: Media information note (4 March 2015)
- ECRE Weekly Bulletin, NGOs raise alarms over new plans against migrants and refugees in Hungary (6 March 2015).
IRIN News, Hungary reacts to migrant influx (10 March 2015) - Hungarian Helsinki Committee: Information note on asylum-seekers in detention and Dublin procedures in Hungary (May 2014) here
- Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Brief Information Note on the main asylum-related legal changes in Hungary as of 1 July 2013
Americas News Round up February
Regional
Directora de Sin Fronteras recibe amenaza telefónica
La Coalición Internacional contra la Detención, IDC (por sus siglas en inglés) Expresamos nuestra solidaridad y apoyo al equipo de Sin Fronteras IAP.
Boletín de prensa, aquí
Carta de Nancy Pérez García, aquí
Migrant kids will flood the U.S. again, but the real crisis may hit south of the border
Ecuador registra la primera condena por tráfico de niños migrantes
En el 2014 67 mil niños de México y Centroamérica huyeron sin compañía a EU
Flood of child migrants could recede, but still be second-largest ever
Mexico/México
La Suprema Corte, ante la oportunidad de entrar al tema de la detención migratoria
ONU señala a México sobre desaparición de niños migrantes
Instalará el gobierno de Ecatepec oficina especial para menores migrantes
Garantizarían derechos de infantes. En México se discuten cambios a la Ley de Migración
United States/Estados Unidos
The Shame of America’s Family Detention Camps
A costly choice—putting immigrant kids behind bars
Cancelan por 4 años audiencias a migrantes en EU que buscan legalizar su situación
Niños migrantes indocumentados encuentran refugio en EE.UU. con familias adoptivas
Activistas desconfían de investigación sobre abusos en centro de detención
ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Homeland Security for Records Describing Abuse of Children
The Weight of 216 days. That is how long Sofía and her daughter Isabel* had to wait for a chance at release from family detention at the southern border
Canada/Canadá
Canada Is Spending Millions Keeping Immigration Detainees in Jail
Honduras
Afirma Primera Dama: Continúan atendiendo a niños migrantes. La esposa del mandatario, luego del lanzamiento de la campaña “Retorno de la Alegría”
Bahamas
“Inhumane” conditions of detention in the Bahamas: IACHR has released a press release stating that the conditions of immigration detention.
Bahamas Told to Improve Conditions at Center Housing Haitian Immigrants
How does immigration detention impact the integration of migrants and refugees?
A recently published research paper entitled "Immigration detention and its impact on integration - a European approach", questions the disconnect between migration and immigration policies in analysing the impact of migrants’ detention on their further integration into the receiving society.
The paper argues that detention and integration are considered to be distinct policy areas in the EU. However, a large number of third country nationals who are detained for immigration purposes in fact remain on EU territory. This phenomenon is also called the “deportation gap”. As a consequence, a significant proportion of individuals that have been detained also come under the scope of EU integration policies. There is therefore a need to connect these two migration-related policy areas.
"The starting point of this research is that while the negative impact of immigration detention is well acknowledged, very little attention is actually given to the situation of people after detention. The analysis so far has been put into a legal perspective (compliance with human rights and EU law) or in research looking at the criminal aspect of migration law and policy," explains the author, Anne Bathily, Project Officer for ECRE.
The first part of the paper looks at the EU frameworks for integration and detention, while the second part focuses on the long-term impact of detention, existing research evidence from various fields of science (medical research, criminology, law, political and social sciences) about influencing factors and qualitative studies conducted by several NGOs.
While taking a multidisciplinary approach, the author brings evidence to the fact that detention - and its immediate and long-term negative impact on people's mental health - also impacts the integration of migrants and refugees and has consequences on societies. The paper considers the effect of detention on the different key areas of integration identified at EU level: social inclusion, health, employment, education, family life and the two-way process of mutual accommodation by all immigrants and residents of EU Member States.
It concludes that the experience of confinement damages people's view of themselves and of others and affects the individual's ability to interact and engage with the host society. It thus has a range of consequences on all areas that are considered key for successful integration in the EU. Moreover, the paper points out that a hostile environment towards migrants can lead to unintended consequences such as damaging the feeling of belonging of settled ethnic communities and “second-third generation” migrants.
Thus, the research paper both highlights the need to “connect the dots” between the immigration detention and integration policy fields and questions the use of immigration detention given the importance the EU places on integration.
This paper adds to the current debate on integration taking place in Europe by addressing the impact certain migration policies have on the integration process and questioning the issue of policy consistency and costs for individuals and societies. By documenting the immediate and long-term negative impact of immigration detention on individuals and society, it also adds to a body of research including the IDC's "There are Alternatives".
Posted 10 February 2015