Working together to end immigration detention: a collection of noteworthy practices Conclusions This briefing explored noteworthy practices related to immigration detention and community-based solutions. It focused on three dimensions: 1) civil society efforts to provide support to people in detention, to increase access to detention centres and to advocate for the end of immigration detention, 2) state developments towards ending child detention, and 3) civil society and national and local authorities working together on solutions to prevent people from being detained, and facilitate their access to case resolution. The first chapter found that migrants’ rights to communicate with the outside world or to be visited and assisted by civil society actors are often arbitrarily restricted by state practices. Advocacy and litigation, either through administrative complaints or judicial appeals, are the main tools deployed by lawyers and NGOs in order to promote full compliance with human rights standards. The most successful practices are based on an approach that combines litigation efforts with advocacy campaigns in order to transform individual positive outcomes for the people involved into more far-reaching policy and legal changes. In this regard, communication with the outside world, and civil society monitoring of administrative detention facilities, are conceived as tools to unveil the harmful and punitive nature of immigration detention, and thus to advocate for its end. Chapter two analysed the level of progress made on working towards ending child detention. While some progress has been made at the international and national levels, several EU proposals will likely increase detention, including of children, in the near future and could have a negative impact on EU member states which implement or are considering implementing more rights-based practices. Chapter three analysed different projects, mostly led by NGOs, but often in collaboration with local or national authorities, which provide case management with the purpose of preventing detention or facilitating individuals’ release from detention.124 While it might not always be possible to engage with public authorities, further research is needed to fully understand the role that local municipalities can play in promoting community-based solutions. A key issue remains how to ensure the economic sustainability of these projects over time, as well as how to support their expansion to cover more people. Finally, this chapter provided the example of countries where immigration detention is not envisaged as a tool to manage irregular migration. 124 For a complete overview of pilot projects, see IDC, 2022, Gaining Ground. Promising Practices to Reduce and End Immigration Detention. 25