Deportation

Post-Deportation Monitoring Network

last update: April 2013

What happens to rejected asylum seekers post-deportation is still largely unknown. They might be apprehended by state security and sent to prison, tortured, tried for treason, or even killed.

While evidence is increasing that many rejected asylum seekers who are deported are grossly mistreated in receiving countries, deporting countries do not monitor what happens after deportation. We argue that such deportations can amount to refoulement.

Many organisations that work with rejected asylum seekers pending deportation have long been aware of this problem. Yet most organisations in host countries do not have the capacity to do post-deportation monitoring. Moreover, while organisations in receiving countries are willing to help, they simply do not know when someone is being deported.

The Post-Deportation Monitoring Network (PDMN) aims to address these issues. Our team is in the process of identifying and recruiting partner organisations and committed individuals in deporting and receiving countries. These organisations and individuals are compiled in our online directory.

This network has three main goals:

  • to protect and assist rejected asylum seekers post-deportation;
  • to document and report post-deportation human rights violations;
  • and to use such reports to lobby governments in host countries to change their asylum policies.

Post-Deportation Monitoring Network online: http://www.refugeelegalaidinformation.org/post-deportation-monitoring-network

Bulgaria > Deportation

The refugee policy in Bulgaria and in Europe as whole is generally oriented towards return. During the time of your application procedure (or even after receiving a refugee status), you could be “offered” a special „voluntary return program” in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration.

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France > Deportation

Here you find a Sans Papiers-Guide for Illegalized Migrants: Get organized against deportation, what to do in case of arrest? in different languages. In the past ten years, arrests and deportation procedures have multiplied. Beyond arrests of undocumented people during routine police controls, most are being controlled and arrested during raids (facial identity controls with big police deployment).And further more people are arrested at home.

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Germany > Deportation

The following information is intended to help people who do not wish, or are unable, to return to their country of origin or another country, to prevent their deportation while still at the airport. If you can, inform your friends that you want to resist the deportation. They can support you from outside by speaking to the airline and informing them that you will not fly voluntarily. At Frankfurt Airport (where most deportations in Germany take place) there is a group who go to the airport in these cases, to inform passengers and airlines and to protest against your deportation.

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Netherlands > Deportation

After a negative decision or when you are not allowed to await a decision you have the obligation to leave voluntarily. When you do not leave the Netherlands in the given period, the government will try to remove you by force.

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Norway > Deportation

The Norwegian Government is working on an agreement with Eritrea on returning asylum-seekers who have been refused asylum.

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Serbia > Deportation

With the aim to achieve the liberalisation of the visa regime, and further approach entering the EU, Serbia was under pressure to sign the readmission agreements with EU state members, as well as with its neighbouring countries.

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Spain > Deportation

Guide about legal questions...

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Switzerland > Deportation

Switzerland restarted deportations to Nigeria in January 2011.

List of all migration and readmission agreements between Switzerland and other countries here.

Switzerland is also member of Schengen/Dublin and works activly with Frontex. For further information.

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Turkey > Deportation

If you have not applied for asylum (yet) or your application has been rejected and you don’t have a current “living permit” the police will probably try to deport you. This can be to your country or if you are at the border, to the country you have just come from (e.g. Iran, Iraq). It is known that the police denied entrance not only at the land border, but also at the airports. That means that the police regularly try to push people back into the country you have just come from without giving them the chance to seek for asylum. This is illegal, but they do it.

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