Conference: "Effective Alternatives to the Detention of Migrants"

On 4 April 2019, Conference on Effective Alternatives to the Detention of Migrants was held in Strasbourg, France. The Conference was organised by the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the European Migration Network. Representatives of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia attended the conference.  

The Conference brought together key national practitioners and policy makers from across Europe. The Conference aimed to identify ways to make alternatives to the administrative detention of migrants more effective, ensuring compliance with immigration procedures while upholding human rights.

The emphasis of the conference was on determining key approaches and essential elements of effective alternatives to the detention of migrants in the context of asylum and irregular migration, ways to secure individual compliance with migration procedures, challenges in implementing alternatives, good practices and lessons learnt in diverse national settings and avenues for further cooperation and future practice.

One of the conclusions of the conference included the need for even greater cooperation at international level in the field, but also on a domestic level. If civil society and national human rights institutions connect constructively with authorities, and if local and national authorities build bridges in the field, then this helps forge results.

The many aspects of alternatives to immigration detention discussed included inter alia, registration, case management or case worker support, regular reporting, designated residence and residential accommodation.

Among the key findings were that alternatives are in general under-used by European states and more awareness is needed in order to change that. States need support for a swift and fair resolution of cases, including dignified returns. With more knowledge and overall mapping, states will be better equipped to achieve success and prevent failure with a practical and pragmatic approach to realise effective alternatives to detention.