Working together to end immigration detention: 21 a collection of noteworthy practices Case management to prevent detention In Turin, Italy, the ‘Channel of Solidarity’ pilot project In Belgium, the NGO Orbit107 developed a case man- was implemented between 2020 and 2022 by agement pilot project based on cooperation between Mosaico - Action for Refugees, a refugee-led organ- NGOs, social services and the municipalities of isation, the Kriol legal firm, the local Ombudsperson Ghent and Antwerp.108 In 2024 a new project will be for People Deprived of Liberty and the law clinic of developed in Bruges. The pilot projects were included 103 the International University College of Turin (IUC). as a policy choice in the Belgian Federal Government The project aimed to identify migrants at risk of Agreement and are partly funded as such. The detention - because of their irregular status and/ municipalities ensure access to a shelter and basic or social vulnerability - and to provide them with assistance, while different NGOs provide legal and socio-legal assistance. In this pilot, case manage- social orientation and support for undocumented ment was provided by case workers from Mosaico, migrants. The objective is to create a situation who all had lived experience of migration themselves. in which people have space, tranquillity and feel It aimed to promote guidance and inclusion policies respected. This allows them not to be in a ‘survival through reasonable, effective, and respectful mode’ and, therefore, to make informed decisions on measures, improving the screening of vulnerabilities their future project based on a support model called and decreasing the number of migrants in deten- ‘future orientation’. The project – which has involved tion.104 The project involved 17 migrants in 2021: 20 people between 2022 and the beginning of 2023 three were previously detained, while the others were – is characterised by the absence of coerciveness, at risk of detention. Mosaico caseworkers provided and is not time-bound. Leaving the project does people with both legal and social support; in most not have any further negative implications on the cases, with the assistance of lawyers, they supported person’s condition. So far, there has been a high level people to regularise their position, therefore prevent- of commitment on the part of the authorities and of ing detention.105 Overall, case management improved the people involved.109 the individual ability to participate in an informed decision-making process.106 103 MOSAICO, 2021, Channels of Solidarity. 104 Interview with Maurizio Veglio, Legal firm KRIOL, Italy, on 4 April 2023. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 Orbit is a socio-cultural organisation committed to promoting democratic dialogue and cooperation among cultures and the respect of human rights, particularly in the context of migration. 108 Interview with Didier Vanderslycke, Orbit, Belgium, on 8 December 2022. 109 Ibid.