Working together to end immigration detention: 23 a collection of noteworthy practices Case management to replace detention While the pilot projects in Belgium are based on pilot project working with migrants who are already cooperation between NGOs and local authorities, in involved in return procedures and who have received other cases these pilots involve national governments a detention order. SIP coordinated its work with the as well. For instance, in Bulgaria the NGO Centre for Border Police in order to secure people’s release from Legal Aid (CLA) has run a case management project immigration detention into the programme. Most since 2017, people were required to report to the authorities at 114 After the successful completion of the first phase in 2019,115 CLA was able to work on a least once a month. case management programme for people in vulnerable situations in return procedures between October Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the NGO Action 2019 and October 2022, funded by the national Foundation118 has been working on a pilot project funding within the Asylum, Migration and Integration targeting women in detention. All but one of the par- Fund (AMIF). The organisation has regular contact ticipants had been previously detained in Yarl’s Wood with the Ministry of Interior and there is a willingness Immigration Removal Centre. The project was run to cooperate on the part of authorities. Besides as part of the Community Engagement Pilot Series working on individual cases, CLA has also engaged launched by the UK Home Office in 2018 and was the in advocacy campaigns to promote a positive and first instance of a formal civil society and government engagement-based approach to migration manage- partnership on ATDs. The ‘Action Access’ project ran ment and in litigation. between 2019 and 2021. It supported 20 women 116 seeking asylum in a community-setting in Newcastle Examples of cooperation with national level gov- upon Tyne. After joining the pilot, the women were ernment can be found also in Poland and in the UK, provided with shared accommodation and support even though these solutions are characterised by to access legal counselling. UNHCR conducted an restrictions to their freedom of movement, such as independent evaluation of the project, finding a high reporting obligations or other forms of coerciveness. compliance rate (only one person absconded). It This is different from the pilots implemented in Italy, qualified the positive cooperation between the NGO, Belgium and Bulgaria, which do not involve any the Home Office and the legal support offered by the reporting obligation. In Poland, the Association for programme as a promising practice. On the whole, Legal Intervention (SIP) UNHCR assessed the project as more effective and 117 has been piloting the ‘No Detention Necessary’ project: a case management humane compared to detention.119 114 Centre for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria is a local NGO, mainly composed of legal professionals, whose mission is to promote and defend the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups in Bulgaria by providing legal aid and conducting advocacy. 115 Giteva D., Pavlova R. and Radoslavova D. (Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria), 2019, Final Report: Applying Engagement-Based Alternatives to Detention of Migrants in Bulgaria: Opportunities and Challenges. 116 International Detention Coalition, 2022, Gaining Ground. Promising Practices to Reduce and End Immigration Detention, p. 43. 117 The Association for Legal Intervention (SIP) is a civil society organisation whose statutory objective is to take steps aimed at ensuring that human rights are respected and that no individual is treated unequally, disregard of their nationality, ethnicity, religion and migration status. SIP provide free of charge legal assistance to migrants, conduct research and carry out advocacy activities to promote migrants’ and asylum seekers’ rights. 118 Action Foundation is a charity based in Newcastle upon Tyne, providing support to disadvantaged refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants across Tyne and Wear. Through their supported housing projects; InterAction Drop-in; Digital Inclusion project and English language school, they aim to plug a gap in existing provisions and enable vulnerable migrants to avoid homelessness and extreme poverty; increase their skills and employability; access legal support; integrate and live independently. 119 UNHCR, 2022, Action Access Evaluation Report.