End Immigration Detention

This Christmas, we need your help

Most people held in detention because of immigration procedures have never committed a crime.

There is strong evidence that detention is harmful for people’s physical and mental health.

Detention is often justified to enforce returns of irregularly staying migrants. However, there is no evidence that the enforcement of returns increases with the use of detention.

Alternatives to detention exist. They are effective, humane and affordable and should be used.

Detention of migrants and asylum seekers is not necessary. The EU and its Member States should invest in manifestly more cost-efficient, more humane and more effective measures instead. We should leverage the experience gained from alternatives to detention and work toward an EU that leaves no one behind.

Detention visitor testimonies

To visit a detention centre is to enter a prison-like world where the detainees painfully feel the injustice of being deprived of their freedom for having taken the risk of leaving their country in the hope of a better life. I protest against the arbitrary decision to lock someone up for the sole reason that he or she is seeking protection, and I cannot tolerate the hypocrisy of an authority that claims to make locking up a last resort while planning to double the number of detention places.

Detention visitor with JRS Belgium

The worst thing for us is the mistreatment of the detainees. To feel all this pain and suffering. To be silent before injustice, when you could really shout and say enough. It’s difficult to communicate because of the language barrier. The passivity of the judges is obvious when we clearly see human rights been violated. In the detention centre we see people interned, just for being in an irregular situation. The maximum stay is 60 days, but some of them remain there for over 50 days before being released so we ask: ‘Is all this suffering necessary?

Detention visitor with SJM Spain

This Christmas, support people that are alone in immigration detention centres. You can help us end immigration detention with a donation to JRS or you can volunteer your time by contacting JRS offices.

If you are interested in volunteering, contact JRS office in your country:

Testimonies from people in immigration detention

Testimony from a 29-year-old Afghan man detained in Romania from December 2019 to May 2020. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.

Testimony from a 30-year-old Pakistani man detained in Portugal between January and February 2021. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.

Story of a Cameroonian woman detained from January to July 2021. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.

Testimony from a 31-year-old Surinamese man detained in Belgium in February 2020. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.

Testimony from a detention visitor in Spain. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.

Testimony from a 30-year-old Pakistani man detained in Portugal between February and March 2021. Art by Ivo de Jager. At JRS Europe we respect everyone who shares their story with us. While their accounts are true, names have been omitted to protect their privacy. Faces and places are the products of the artist’s imagination.