La Strada Documentation Center

Back to Basics: The Right to Liberty and Security of Person and 'Alternatives to Detention' of Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, Stateless Persons and Other Migrants

Document number
2757
Date
2011
Title
Back to Basics: The Right to Liberty and Security of Person and 'Alternatives to Detention' of Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, Stateless Persons and Other Migrants
Author/publisher
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Availability
LSI library
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures,
Summary
The widespread and growing use of immigration detention has come under considerable scrutiny in recent years on pragmatic (practical and functional) as well as human rights/legal grounds. This study articulates the current state of international law governing detention and its alternatives, and provides a critical overview of existing and possible alternatives to detention (A2Ds) options drawn from empirical research. Research visits were conducted to five countries, namely Australia, Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. This study contributes to the body of work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) against the detention of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons, and forms one of the background papers for the global roundtable on the same subject.
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