Detention Centres report for European Parliament

The conditions in centres for third country national (detention camps, open centres as well as transit centres and transit zones) with a particular focus on provisions and facilities for persons with special needs in the 25 EU member states

This study is a response to the European Parliament’s desire to better understand and to improve the detention and reception conditions for third country nationals in closed and open centres in Europe, with special consideration for persons with special needs. It assesses the implementation of the standards outlined in part II of the Reception Conditions Directive 2003/9/CE (22/01/2003). The unique feature of this study is that it focuses on vulnerable groups and assesses whether their needs are taken into account or not and if the conditions found in Europe contribute to an improvement in, or the aggravation of, their situations of vulnerability.

Following the visits by several delegations from the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties to various European detention centres that have taken place since May 2005, awareness of detention and more generally of the condition of migrants in Europe has increased. The aim of this study was to provide members of the European Parliament and Member States with more in-depth information on reception and detention conditions in the 25 countries which made up the European Union at the end of 2006.

The study was carried out by the research consultancy, Steps Consulting Social, linked to the 1997 Noble Peace Prize winning organisation Handicap International. Their expertise in the field of disability and more generally speaking the vulnerability of persons, along with the expertise of the French organisation Cimade, specialised in the defence of migrants’ rights offered a fresh approach the issue of the reception and detention of migrants in Europe.

In order to carry out the research required which was neither document-based nor legal, research teams were sent out to the 25 Member States concerned. Each country was visited for a duration of several days and these visits took place with assistance from local non-governmental organisations.

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The conditions in centres for third country national (detention camps, open centres as well as transit centres and transit zones) with a particular focus on provisions and facilities for persons with special needs in the 25 EU member states