Blog: Immigration detention in Europe: What are the facts? A new European Migration Network Study

In November 2014, the European Migration Network (EMN) released its Focussed Study titled 'The use of detention and alternatives to detention in the context of immigration policies'. It constitutes a synthesis report based on national reports from 26 countries, prepared by the EMN National Contact Points (NCPs). The countries covered by the report included 25 European Union (EU) member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and one Schengen Associate country (Norway).

The aim of the study was to 'identify similarities, differences and best practices with regard to the use of detention and alternatives to detention in the context of (Member) States’ immigration policies'.

There are two main forms of immigration detention under EU law: pre-removal detention, which is regulated by the Returns Directive (2008/115/EC), and asylum detention, governed mainly by the Reception Conditions Directive (2003/9/EC) and its recently adopted recast (2013/33/EU). This blog post briefly discusses the study by looking at its objectives.