Working together to end immigration detention: 11 a collection of noteworthy practices Access to detention centres and civil society campaigns Alongside the use of phones and mobile apps to allowed to enter the centres.30 More than ten years advance migrants’ rights and make them visible, ago, in 2011, several NGOs launched the EU-wide civil society efforts have focused on improving campaign ‘Open Access Now’ 31 to promote civil access to detention centres, with the dual aim of society access to detention facilities. providing legal and social counselling to migrants and conducting more comprehensive monitoring In Italy, one of the most criticised features of the of detention conditions. Independent monitoring of detention system is the lack of a comprehensive detention facilities is a crucial element in ensuring legal framework on detention conditions. These adequate conditions of detention but can also be a are regulated only by ministerial orders. NGOs way to reinforce advocacy for the abolition of immi- have been denied access to detention centres on gration detention. the basis of a restrictive and arbitrary interpretation of a 2014 order from the Ministry of Interior, According to EU law regulating detention, “relevant which disregards the provisions of the EU Return and competent national, international and non-gov- and Reception Condition Directives.32 Since 2019, ernmental organisations and bodies shall have the the Italian Association for Juridical Studies on possibility to visit detention facilities”, even though Immigration (ASGI)33 has systematically requested their access might be subject to authorisation. Whilst access to detention centres and hotspots. Every time visits of international and national monitoring bodies the administration refused to authorise the visit, (such as the CPT, National Preventive Mechanisms, ASGI challenged the decision before the competent and Ombudspersons) are not generally hindered, regional administrative court. Between 2020 and NGOs face severe restrictions. This is the case in 2023, several regional courts granted the right to visit several countries, including Croatia, Hungary and the facilities in all cases brought to their attention, Poland.27 Even in states where the law explicitly establishing through their jurisprudence the right of 26 regulates the accessibility of detention centres, civil society to monitor the conditions of detention such as in Spain or Greece,28 NGOs have reported and recalling the direct applicability of EU law.34 obstacles when trying to visit the facilities on a This result has been achieved through a judicial regular basis, 29 and very few organisations are litigation strategy set up by ASGI, which was met 26 Article 16 of the Return Directive (2008/115/CE) on the detention of undocumented migrants. 27 EMN, 2018, Ad-Hoc Query on Ad-hoc query on detention and material detention conditions. 28 Spanish Aliens Act, Article 62 bis; Greek Law 3907/2011, Article 31(4). 29 See Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes (SJM), 2019, Informe CIE 2019. Diez años mirando a otro lado; Irídia, 2021, Informe sobre violencia institucional en 2020; The same was confirmed during the interview with Ana Bocsh and Pep Buades, Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, Spain, on 20 December 2022. 30 Interview with Manon Luis, Mobile Info Team/Border Violence Monitoring Network, Greece, on 8 February 2023; see also Mobile Info Team - MIT, 2023, Prison for Papers: Last Resort Measures as Standard Procedure. 31 More information on the EU-wide campaign ‘Open Access Now’ in this letter. 32 Alongside the Return Directive, the Reception Condition Directive (2013/33/EU) sets the rules for detaining asylum seekers and similarly provided for international and national bodies and NGOs representative of asylum seekers to have access to detention facilities. 33 ASGI is an Italian membership-based association focusing on legal aspects of immigration. ASGI’s members provide their contribution at various levels: administrative, policymaking and legal, both in national and European contexts. 34 For an overview of the cases see In Limine. In Limine is an ASGI project that focuses on monitoring and challenging human rights violations at Italian external borders and particularly in the context of hotspots and detention facilities (in Italian).