JRS parner in Spain, Servicio Jesuita a Migrants (SJM), has published their eleventh study on immigrant detention centres (CIE in Spanish), the 2020 report “Legal sense and political nonsense.”

This research focuses on detention during the pandemic, clearly the most pressing issue of 2020. Substandard hygiene in the CIEs and the need to improve their diagnostic, treatment, and referral capacities are key elements of the report. The study deals more specifically with the case of Samba Martine, a Congolese woman who died in the Aluche CIE due to lack of healthcare, and the duties of the state towards Samba’s mother and daughter.

The structural issues SJM monitors year on year are also analysed: human rights regulated by the Ombudsman and dialogue with civil society monitoring. Lastly, the 2019-2024 CIE investment plan is addressed. It was formulated with the intent of reforming existing plans and undertaking the creation of a new CIE in Algeciras, a sign of political will which confirms the budgetary allocation to this construction work.

This report is an annual endeavour for SJM, and this is another year in which they launch their report in an effort to help measure and disseminate the exact scope of detention centres, extending an invitation to critical thought on what happens inside. The ultimate goal is an end to the preventive detention of foreigners, and until that time comes, they want to guarantee their adherence to human rights.