What we do

• Where governments hold a migrant or refugee because of their status as a non-citizen.
• People can be held in dedicated immigration detention centers, but also prisons, police stations, airports, hotels, ships and makeshift camps. They are generally unable to leave these locations without risking arrest and deportation.

• International law says that detention should only be used as a last resort. Liberty should be the default and detention should only be used after exploring non-custodial, community-based alternatives to detention (ATD) in each case.
• There are additional protections to severely restrict the detention of children.

• The use of unnecessary, and frequently mandatory and indefinite, immigration detention remains prevalent. Many countries have no limit on how long people can be imprisoned in immigration detention.
• Globally, millions of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants are at risk of arbitrary or unlawful immigration detention each year in conditions falling below international standards.
• The Global Detention Project estimates that detention has been used for immigration-related purposes in approximately 100 different countries over the last decade.
• More than 80 countries around the world still detain children.
• At least 330,000 children are deprived of their liberty every year around the world based on their or their parents’ status (possibly a significant under-estimate).

The Council is focused on:

• Ending the Detention of children (including family detention)
• Conditions of detention (including medical care)
• Access to legal counsel
• Advocating for Alternatives to detention to become the norm, as required by international law.

Legal status determines whether an individual is authorized to enter, stay, and engage in certain activities (such as work or study) in the host country.

Legal permission granted by a host country for an individual to reside within its borders for a specified period of time under specific conditions.

Education

• Bangladesh does not allow Rohingya children to attend public schools
• Only 5% of the world’s refugees access higher education compared to a global average of 39% for non-refugees

Employment

• 62% of refugees live in countries with restricted access to employment in practice

Financial integration

• 75% of refugees live in countries where legislation does not recognize UNHCR or government-issued ID as a valid document to open a bank account

Permanent residency or citizenship in host countries

• (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman); South Korea; Singapore; Malaysia; and Russia are amongst the countries with no pathways to citizenship for refugees.

Family Unity

• In 58% of countries (examined by MGI data) being reunited with family members is not possible for all migrants.

Pushbacks are the measures taken by states to ultimately reject people trying to cross their borders (sometimes violently) without access to a procedure or international protection.

• So far this decade, approximately 50,000 people have experienced pushbacks at Europe's borders. Since 2014, more than 4,000 fatalities have been recorded annually on migratory routes worldwide.
• Drowning was the main cause of death during migration globally (60%) in the past decade.
• The deadliest land crossing on record is the maritime route from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands and across the Sahara Desert crossing (6,204 people last decade).

• Climate displacement refers to the involuntary movement of people as a result of extreme weather events (e.g. floods, fires), slow onset events (e.g. desertification, drought) and/or other adverse impacts of climate change (e.g. availability of resources, impacts of the climate change on livelihoods).

• Many countries do not recognise people displaced by climate as refugees.
• They are often treated as voluntary migrants and as a result have not been afforded similar protections to other refugees and migrants, including the right not to be forcibly returned.

• The reality is that climate emergencies are increasing and those affected are fleeing danger.

• According to the UN, over the last decade weather events have displaced an average of 21.5 million people per year. That's twice as many as those who've fled violence and conflict.

• Supporting our members and regional networks with individual cases and regional strategies to recognise and advance the rights of climate-displaced communities.
• Ensuring the voices of those displaced by climate change are centered in litigation and advocacy efforts across the world.
• Developing a comprehensive global Climate Displacement Case Database hosting litigation related to climate displacement to help civil society fight for climate justice.