International Detention Coalition
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The International Detention Coalition (IDC) is an incorporated not-for-profit organization, forming a network of more than 200 non-governmental organizations, faith- based groups, academics and individuals that provide legal, social, medical and other services, carry out research and reporting, and undertake advocacy and policy work on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. These groups and individuals from more than 50 countries, have come together to form the IDC to share information and promote good practices relating to the use of detention by governments. This includes advocating for greater respect for the human rights of detainees, preventing and limiting the use of, seeking alternatives to, and using the least restrictive forms of, immigration detention.
The IDC Secretariat is based in Melbourne, Australia, with regional consultants based internationally.
Mission
The IDC aims to promote greater protection of and respect for the human rights of those held in detention and to raise awareness of detention policies and practices. It also aims to promote the use of international and regional human rights standards and principles as they relate to the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. The Coalition reaches these objectives through networking, advocacy, raising public awareness and researching and reporting on issues worldwide relating to the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. [1]
Vision and Objectives
For the period 2008-2010, IDC members identified three core priorities:
- Ending and limiting detention, particularly for children
- Developing and promoting alternatives to immigration detention
- Improving rights, conditions and monitoring of detention facilities.
In light of these priorities, the Coalition has focused its work on three core strategic areas:
- Coalition Building
- Advocacy and Campaign Building
- Capacity Building [2]
Background
Since the late 1990s organisations working in the field of immigration detention have discussed the need for better regional and international networking. In September 2003, several NGO representatives attending the UNHCR NGO Consultations in Geneva met to explore the formation of an international civil society coalition on immigration detention. During the 2004/05 Consultations, the process of establishing the coalition continued, and in June 2008 the International Detention Coalition was formally launched with an appointed Steering Committee.
The IDC was voluntarily run until September 2007, when the Steering Committee agreed to have the IDC hosted by another organization to help formalize it as an incorporated body. The Steering Committee received expressions of interest from five members before agreeing on a partnership with Oxfam Australia. Grant Mitchell was appointed as interim Coordinator in May 2008. In March 2009, the IDC became incorporated and established a Secretariat based in Melbourne, Australia. The Steering Committee became the International Advisory Committee, and the IDC Secretariat was formalised at this time, with Grant Mitchell appointed as Director, responsible for implementing IDC operations and providing executive support. The Secretariat is also supported by eleven Regional Representatives from twelve sub-regions, who support and help develop the work of the IDC at the regional level in a voluntary capacity.
Work is now being undertaken to have the IDC become a legally recognised international development organization. [3] [4]
Achievements
Following the strategic plan in the IDC's vision (see above), the Coalition has worked on coalition building, advocacy and campaign building, and capacity building.
Coalition Building
The membership has grown to 202 members - including 177 organisations and 25 individuals in 49 countries. An additional 134 non-members receive updates on IDC activities, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and various other stakeholders. The IDC distributes an e-newsletter covering international detention news divided into regions, useful resources, member updates and a calendar of detention-relevant events, including the UN Special Procedures visits to various countries.[5]
Advocacy and Campaign Building
The IDC's work has focused particularly on the impact of detention on children and the need for alternatives to detention. It advocates through lobbying, submissions, research, media, member advocacy support and strategy meetings. This includes meetings and reports to numerous national, regional and international bodies, including the European Union (EU), the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and UNHCR.[6]
Capacity Building
The IDC facilitates training, resources and skills-sharing, as well as targeted partner projects with and between members, with a particular focus on members in the Global South.[7]
IDC Outcomes for Detained Children
Belgium
The IDC visited the 127bis Detention Centre in Belgium on June 20, 2008, and provided a report to the Belgian Government on a number of concerns regarding the regime, conditions and best interests of the children detained. On February 25, 2009, the IDC received a letter from the Immigration Minister, Annemie Turtelboom pledging to improve conditions in the detention centre.
Following a meeting with IDC Director Grant Mitchell, the Immigration Minister stated that 2008 would be the`last year during which children might be detained in closed centres for irregular immigrants’. (4) In October 2008 the Belgian Government announced that children irregularly in the country would not be detained, but would be brought with their families to open housing.
Japan
Malaysia
In October 2008, three Burmese refugee children in Malaysia who were about to be resettled to Australia were caught in a raid and detained in Lenggeng Detention Centre. Their mother was arrested at the same time but was later released, leaving the children alone in the centre with no caregiver. Through advocacy to the Australian Government, the IDC was able to assist the release of the children from detention, who arrived in Australia in February 2009 with their mother and siblings.
United States
Following the submission of the paper on the successful implementation of alternatives to detention in Australia, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency contacted the Australian Government for further details of these developments in May 2009.
Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD)
The IDC successfully lobbied to include three of the eight IDC recommendations into the final statement to the 167 states by civil society, including recommendations to avoid detention, particularly for children and other vulnerable persons, and to develop alternatives.