IDC will be coordinating more capacity building opportunities on related topics; please stay tuned and follow our Facebook and Twitter to be the first to register!
Research and awareness raising on immigration detention
This year, IDC has been working intensively with UNICEF and also supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation funding on research to map practices and legislation related to child immigration detention in 11 countries across the MENA region. Through this process, we have identified promising practices towards ending child immigration detention and providing alternatives to detention (ATD), and will be publishing this in a report. Some of the promising practices in the MENA region are already featured in IDC’s latest global report, available here: Gaining Ground: Promising Practice to Reduce & End Immigration Detention
In June 2022, IDC’s MENA Regional Programme began a social media campaign aiming to share facts and findings on immigration detention and promising practices towards ending immigration detention in the region and globally. Follow our Facebook and Twitter to stay updated through our weekly posts and graphics in English and Arabic.
Inclusion and Collaboration with Leaders with Lived Experience
The Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative (RRLI) is a coalition of six organisations in different parts of the world, some of which are IDC members. The initiative focuses on promoting the leadership of refugee-led initiatives (RLIs) in the global migration and refugee rights space. In June 2022, RRLI published an open letter to UNHCR noting its concerns on the continued exclusion of RLIs from “funding streams, strategy development and decision-making processes, “including, the inability of refugee leaders to obtain visas for the annual UNHCR-NGO Consultations, and thereby excluded from the consultation process.” In the letter, RRLI acknowledges UNHCR’s extraordinary work in assisting refugees, but calls for change in key aspects, such as the inclusion of refugee leaders in decision-making. Additionally, there were calls from activists to ensure the next head of UNHCR has lived experience as a refugee, as stated in an article here.
RRLI noted that in many countries, such as Egypt, refugee leaders are excluded from meetings with UNHCR and decision-making processes, with UNHCR citing concerns about conflict of interest. RRLI has also called on UNHCR to put people with forced displacement experience and refugee leaders at the centre. IDC shares RRLI’s concerns and echoes the need to centre leaders with lived experience and ensure their agency is truly fulfilled, through not only consultation, but recognition of leadership and the specialist knowledge needed to shape the policy decisions that directly impact their own lives and the futures of their communities. UNHCR has responded to some of the asks in this letter.
Raids and detentions
Following our last blog update, the situation of migrants and refugees in Libya remains precarious. People and families continue to be subjected to ongoing arbitrary detention and human rights violations, as the UN Independent Fact-finding Mission on Libya reported in June 2022. Additionally, in April 2022, the UN Security Council Pursuant to Resolution 1970 (2011), the International Criminal Court (ICC) noted in its 23rd report that migrants and refugees in Libya have been subjected to arbitrary detention, unlawful killing, enforced disappearance and other violations that may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. Further, raids on migrant homes and communities continue to occur. In April 2022, authorities launched raids in migrant communities in Zuwara, arresting around 300 people,
Authorities in Tunisia have resumed using the informal Al-wardia detention centre for immigration detention purposes, which was previously closed by a court order in 2020. In response, in May 2022 28 human rights groups and civil society organisations called on authorities to stop using this informal centre to detain migrants, as there is no legal basis for its use, and there are many reported concerns regarding the conditions being experienced by migrants and refugees detained in this facility.
In Egypt, it was reported to IDC confidentially that in June authorities detained approximately 10 individuals in a round-up citing a lack of valid residency permits, regardless of their legal status with UNHCR. While those registered with UNHCR are often released within a week, however, people seeking asylum who are unregistered and still awaiting their registration appointment are at risk of indefinite detention or deportation.
Pushbacks and border controls
Pushbacks and interceptions have continued in Libya of people who have attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. As of May, authorities have intercepted and returned a total of 5,696 refugees, migrants, and people seeking asylum in 2022. Concerningly, 453 people have been reported missing, and 109 bodies have been recovered during this period as well.
Similarly in Tunisia, in the government’s efforts to curb irregular migration to Europe, authorities continued to arrest migrants and refugees attempting to exit Tunisia without legal documentation. In April 2022, authorities arrested and detained 155 migrants and refugees from different African countries after preventing them from crossing the sea off the coast of Sfax. Several boats that did manage to leave the coast capsised, leading to the deaths of 20 people, while 98 others were rescued.
In June 2022 in Morocco, around 1,300 to 2,000 migrants crossed from Moroccan borders to Melila enclave to reach Spain, and were then met with force and beatings that resulted in the deaths of 23 people. International human rights actors have called for immediate investigations into this incident and accountability for these killings. Human Rights Watch added that this “requires an independent, impartial investigation capable of determining what occurred and who bears responsibility for such loss of life.” This follows ongoing outsourcing of border control by Spain to Morocco, despite violations and concerns related to Moroccan management. Despite the concerns and over a year of diplomatic tensions, this agreement was further strengthened in April 2022 and later in July as the two countries renewed their migration cooperation commitments.
IDC is deeply concerned by the continued loss of life and forced disappearances of people at these borders. The deterrence mechanisms being utilised by countries in both North Africa and Europe violate international human rights standards, which most States have committed to. IDC urges States to ensure the protection, safety and freedom of people migrating, without being criminalised on the basis of their migration status.
As IDC continues to observe immigration detention trends across the MENA region, we will aim to raise awareness about the current realities and challenges, and also shed light on the gravity of the situation and experiences of migrants, refugees, and people seeking asylum in the region. As always, we believe there is an urgent need to find community-based alternatives to detention (ATD) that provide dignity to people on the move, and we call on governments to end immigration detention practices and allow for the implementation of right-based alternatives. We believe There Are Alternatives.
In May 2022, IDC engaged MENA partners and contacts working on immigration detention issues to become IDC members. IDC members engage in dialogues on emerging and important issues related to immigration detention in national, regional, and global contexts. An IDC membership provides you with opportunities to exchange ideas and develop collaborative strategies to impact immigration detention law, policy and practice around the world. If you are interested in IDC membership or more information about IDC’s MENA Regional Programme, please contact: [email protected]
Written by Amera Markous IDC MENA Regional Coordinator