Memo
From: Anna Gallagher and Melanie Teff, Jesuit Refugee
Service
To: NGOs Interested in the International Coalition
on Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants
Re: Strategy Document
Date: October 16, 2004
During the initial NGO meeting in Geneva in March 2004, it was agreed
that a Strategy Task Force would draft a document which addressed: 1) the definition of an international
coalition on detention, including a definition for proposed members; 2) the
objectives of the coalition; and 3) the suggested activities to reach the
objectives. The members of the
Strategy Task Force were: Jesuit
Refugee Service (JRS); WomenÕs Commission on Refugee Women and Children; Human
Rights Watch; Amnesty International; Canadian Council for Refugees; World
Council of Churches; Human Rights First; Lawyers for Human Rights; CIMADE;
LIRS. After a second NGO meeting,
held in September 2004 during Pre Ex Com, it was decided that the document
would be amended to include information on why an international coalition on
detention is necessary. The
document below represents the amended version of the original strategy
document.
International
Coalition on Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants: Who We Are
We are a
coalition of non-governmental groups and individuals working around the world
providing legal, social and other services, carrying out research and
reporting, and doing advocacy and policy work on behalf of refugees, migrants,
asylum seekers[1] and other displaced persons, who have
come together to share information and to promote best practices on the use of
detention vis-ˆ-vis this population.
For
purposes of clarity, we recognize the UNHCR definition of detention as
follows:
Confinement within a narrowly bounded or restricted
location, including prisons, closed camps, detention facilities, or airport
transit zones, where freedom of movement is substantially curtailed, and the
only opportunity to leave this limited area is to leave the territory.
We
interpret this definition also to include confinement in such settings as
refugee camps, prisons, hotels, police stations and offshore detention
centers.
Why
is there a need for an international coalition on detention of Refugees, Asylum
Seekers and Migrants?
More and more
governments around the world are using detention as a migration management
tool. They are also cooperating
bilaterally or multilaterally in attempts to restrict migration flows, sharing
information and at times personnel in these efforts. NGOs, therefore, should share resources and information in
order to promote greater respect and protection for the human rights of forced
migrants. Detention policies and
practices in one region affect other regions. Therefore, there is a is a need to tackle the global picture
and these cross-regional impacts
Currently, much work
on direct services and advocacy is being carried out by individual NGOs and
some national NGO coalitions with and on behalf of detainees. Apart from Migreurop in Europe, there
are no other regional coalitions and no international coalitions working on
detention issues. The lack of such
coalitions limits the impact of advocacy work on behalf of detained refugees,
asylum seekers and migrants.
Joining forces to campaign together on the issue will have much more
impact.
An international
coalition can speak out on issues in countries where national NGOs cannot do so
for fear of reprisals or of losing their access to detainees. Additionally, an international
coalition may be able to speak out in situations where other international
organizations cannot for political or funding reasons. It can also flag detention situations
in forgotten areas where there is no national NGO present working on the issue.
What
is the proposed aim or mission of the International Coalition on Detention pf
Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants?
The
purposes of the coalition are:
Subjects of
concern for our coalition include but are not necessarily limited to the
following:
o
Consideration
of the grounds, conditions and duration of detention, and the development of fair and humane
detention standards that recognize the human rights and needs of those
detained, including the right to spiritual expression and religious practice;
o
Elimination
of the use of arbitrary and/or punitive detention practices;
o
Elimination
of the inappropriate or inhumane detention of vulnerable people, including
torture survivors, and the mentally or physically disabled;
o
Elimination
of the detention of minors;
o
Elimination
of the use of detention as a
regular and integral part of
national immigration policies;
o
The
development and promotion of humane alternatives to detention;
o
The
promotion of standards of procedural fairness;
o
Consideration
of concerns relating to the
privatization of detention;
o
Consideration
of the proper role of
international and intergovernmental bodies in supporting or challenging
detention policies
o
The promotion
of better public access to credible and correct information and statistics on
detention practices;
o
The
elimination of the co-mingling of non Ðcriminal detainees with criminal
populations.
What
are proposed activities to comply with this mission?
In order to
carry out the purposes of our coalition, we will work together in the following
ways:
Networking
and Advocacy:
The
coalition will carry out networking, and advocacy with the following
objectives:
á
To
raise awareness among our members and constituents, the general public and the
policy and decision makers of the situation of asylum seekers, refugees and
migrants in detention.
á
To
urge governments to limit the use of detention and to use the least restrictive
and most humane forms of detention for those persons whom they feel it is
essential to detain.
á
To
urge governments to use alternatives to detention whenever possible.
á
To
urge governments to consider the rights and mental and physical welfare of
those held in detention, and to ensure that those detained are held in
conditions of safety and dignity.
á
To
urge governments to create and enforce consistent, fair, and humane detention
standards that include access to adequate medical treatment, mental health
counselling, and spiritual and religious care
á
To
urge governments who have not signed relevant Conventions and Treaties to do
so.
Activities
to be undertaken to promote our mission might include:
á
The
creation of a monitoring body of international standards to promote the
observance of international and
regional standards regarding detention of migrants and asylum seekers and to
monitor the compliance of governments with those standards
á
The
creation of aÓ toolboxÓ of materials to educate a broad range of people on the
issues.
á
The organization
of meetings, conferences and seminars that would provide an opportunity to
network, share information and strategy and to invite, liaise and lobby
governmental personnel.
In addition
to the advocacy which we as groups and individuals carry out at the local
level, we would propose to aim our advocacy at both national governments and
institutions that would be in a position to establish regional or international
standards for detention, such as the Organization of American States, the
European Union, the Organization of National Unity and other regional and
international organizations.
Research
and Reporting
The
coalition would promote research in order to develop a comprehensive
information base on the statistics, laws, practices and procedures of
governments around the world regarding detention of asylum seekers, refugees
and migrants. Related activities might include
o
The
publication of a Detention Monitor:
regular report (two or three times a year) with news from around the
world on detention of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants (including
information on statistics, best/worst practices, conditions, costs, locations.
. . .etc.)
[1] References made
throughout this document to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants include men,
women and children in the following categories: documented and undocumented migrants; asylum seekers
with pending applications; recognized refugees; rejected asylum seekers.