Global Legal Frameworks

The practice of detaining migrants for immigration-related reasons is a growing and concerning feature of many national migration policies.  Each year, millions of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are detained in places of immigration detention.

While states are more and more turning to rights-respecting alternatives to detention, it is clear that migrants around the world continue to be routinely subjected to immigration detention practices which may be arbitrary or unlawful.

To address these concerns, in 2011 the IDC produced the following guide: Legal framework and standards relating to the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.  This guide is based upon the IDC Core Position and provides supporting authority for each of the IDC’s 10 Core Position principles. The guide is not meant to provide a comprehensive legal framework of all human rights standards relating to immigration detention, but provides a concise, user-friendly guide to civil society, UN partners, and government policy makers on some of the key international obligations of states to avoid unnecessary immigration detention and to implement alternatives to detention.