By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN refugee agency said on Wednesday that the detention of asylum-seekers globally is harmful and contrary to their fundamental right to seek protection which is why the practice should stop.
In a new policy brief for border authorities highlighted the best practices in some countries.
UN agency noted that in many others, “asylum-seekers and refugees are often arrested and detained, unable to challenge their situation”.
UNHCR cited the experience of one Iraqi asylum-seeker who spent two years in a Hungarian transit zone, where his movements were “severely restricted” and he and others faced constant surveillance.
The agency said that the detention was deemed to be arbitrary by top independent human rights experts meeting at the UN in Geneva.
UNHCR cited a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which found that four Tunisian nationals who were rescued at sea and brought to a reception facility on the Italian island of Lampedusa “did not have the opportunity to apply for asylum” before their “summary removal” from Italy.
The agency stressed that conditions in the centre were “inhuman and degrading”, according to the court.
UNHCR said that some countries have seen limits imposed on how long asylum-seekers can be detained such as the South Korea.
It noted that in March 2023, a South Korean court ruled it unconstitutional to detain asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants indefinitely, while also offering guidance on how long people should be held, as well as alternatives to detention.
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