Global Strategy – Beyond Detention 2014-2019 is a document released by UNHCR, which aims to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seekers and refugees. The goals proposed in this document are to: a) end the detention of children; b) ensure that alternatives to detention are available in law and implemented in practice; and c) ensure that conditions of detention, where detention is necessary and unavoidable, meet international standards.
The key findings presented in this report are derived from a review of the legal framework and detention situation as of the end of 2013 in the 12 focus countries. This document intends to serve as a resource to evaluate progress in the implementation of the Global Strategy – Beyond Detention. In general, this report is intended to guide decision-makers and practitioners to remedy the shortcomings in the national frameworks pertaining to detention and support policy formulation.
The report provides general trends and includes a checklist assessment of the 12 focus countries. The focus countries are: Canada, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Zambia. The report noted that 10 of the 12 focus countries detained children, and eleven out of twelve countries provided alternatives to detention.
