Detention and Deportation News
Published: 13 Oct 2016
Australia
The UN Human Rights office has called on Australia to end its practice of detaining asylum seekers in offshore facilities. A UN team inspected the Nauru detention center in August 2016 and found the situation had deteriorated since their last visit two years ago.
Global
While the New York Declaration on migrants and refugees, signed on 19 September, includes a recognition that detention is not in the best interests of children, it fails to rule out the practice completely. Instead, the document preserves the possibility that detention may be used as a “last resort”. The language has been forcefully criticized by child rights advocates, who called it “a step backwards”.
Italy
Italian authorities deported a group of 48 Sudanese migrants back to Sudan using forceful tactics and detaining them without warning. The deportations follow a new return and readmission agreement signed between Italy and Sudan in August 2016.
United Kingdom
UK authorities have introduced a new “adults at risk” policy on the detention of vulnerable adults. Critics have warned that the new policy restricts the definition of torture, allows more individuals to be detained, and places the burden of proving vulnerability on the detained person.
United States
- The Transactional Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University has undertaken a detailed analysis of Immigration Court data over the last twenty years. The data suggest that just 14% of individuals in deportation proceedings who were released on bond failed to return for their hearing. Most of those released were not found to be deportable.
- The Department of Homeland Security announced it will resume deportations of Haitian nationals under regular deportation rules that prioritize the deportation of convicted felons. Individuals under Temporary Protected Status, which has been extended through 2017, will be unaffected by the change in policy.
- An appeals court rejected a class action lawsuit requesting legal representation filed by minors who are challenging deportation orders. The judges ruled that such a request could not be brought forward via a class action suit but instead would need to be addressed via individual claims after deportation proceedings are concluded.