DETAINED FOR DREAMING OF A BETTER LIFE
The Detainment of People Seeking Asylum Globally
Author: Clair Caird
Editor: Emma Fountaine
Imagine what it would take to make you flee your home. What level of persecution and fear you would have to experience daily to be driven to this extreme measure. Think about how it would feel to pack some of your belongings and leave, likely never to return. Now, imagine that once you enter a country you have heard so many great things about, instead of being received with empathy and compassion, you find yourself detained, imprisoned, and isolated.
This is the reality facing many people around the world today who are seeking asylum. Their attempt to escape from the horrors of their life and find a better one lands them in a prison cell. The practice of detaining people seeking asylum has become a routine response around the world. ‘Detention’ is defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as the deprivation of liberty or confinement in a closed place which a person seeking asylum is not permitted to leave at will, including prisons, holding centres, or purpose built detention facilities.
A common misconception surrounding this topic is that, although detention is unfortunate, it is an appropriate action to take as these people have broken the law. This is not the case. Seeking asylum is not an unlawful act. Under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, every person has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution, serious human rights violations, and other serious harm. Under this convention, people seeking asylum should not be penalised for their illegal entry or stay in a country, provided they present themselves to authorities without delay and show cause for their illegal entry or presence. The detention practices we see today are therefore against international law. People have the right to seek asylum and to be treated humanely and with dignity. Imprisoning asylum seekers contravenes these rights.
Why then do countries continue to imprison people? One supposed rationale for this inhumane treatment is that it will deter others from also seeking asylum. However, research from the UNHCR states that even the harshest detention policies fail to deter people from seeking asylum. The risks they face in their home nations will always cause them to flee, no matter the reception at the other end. Another rationale is that people seeking asylum present a security risk and should therefore be detained in the interests of society.
Today, there are many alternatives to detention that nations should adopt, both to comply with international law and to ensure that they are acting in a moral, just manner. There are a range of alternatives to detention which could be implemented, depending on the specific circumstances of the person in question. Some common options include registration of the person and the surrender of documents to authorities, reporting conditions, community release and supervision, and having a designated residence. There are more extreme options such as electronic monitoring or home curfew, although these are not preferred as they place restrictions on freedom of movement. Modern technology allows for check ins with phone reporting. Through the use of one or a number of these alternatives, detention is rendered obsolete.
What is the case in Aotearoa New Zealand? How do we treat people seeking safety? Unfortunately, we remain part of the problem. We are imprisoning people who have committed no crime by fleeing persecution and violence in their home nations. Over the past five years, 80 people seeking asylum have been imprisoned in New Zealand for an average of 166 days. This action is inexcusable, particularly in a nation such as ours which has the resources to invest in the suggested alternatives. The Human Rights Foundation has condemned Aotearoa New Zealand’s practice of imprisoning people seeking asylum within the general prison system.
The rationale in Aotearoa for detaining people seeking asylum comes from the Immigration Act 2009, with grounds for detainment being lack of proper identification documents, suspicion that they pose a security risk, or they have breached their residence and reporting requirements. When detained, asylum seekers are not segregated from criminal detainees and are vulnerable to bullying and intimidation. This is not acceptable behaviour. Instead of arbitrarily detaining these people in our arguably harsh prison system, the government should instead employ some of the alternatives listed above.
Aotearoa has an opportunity to show the world that we are a kind, compassionate nation. Imprisonment of people seeking asylum is abhorrent and incompatible with our nation's values. It is imperative that we stop this practice. The government clearly knows that this practice is unjust and unnecessary; during 2020, detainees were released from prison due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If they were able to be released under those circumstances, then there is ample reason to believe the reasons for detaining them in the first place were invalid.
Aotearoa has been a global leader before, it is time for us to become one again. We must refrain from detaining people seeking asylum, and instead fund more humane alternatives such as community groups that can provide a space to monitor and support people waiting for their application to be granted, among the other alternatives suggested earlier
More action is needed. Please keep up to date with the work of the Asylum Seekers Equality Project and help call upon our government to back up their words “Be Kind” with action. Please also consider giving support to the Asylum Seekers Support Trust who are doing great work on the ground in Aotearoa: http://aucklandrefugeecouncil.org/
