Research Group: Detention and Oversight Bodies

research group: The Toronto East Detention Centre is among several jails where immigration detainees are held, according to Toronto Star. In cases where children are involved, families are held in federal holding centres instead of jails. The lack of independent national and international oversight bodies significantly contributes to the culture of secrecy surrounding the Canadian immigration detention system, said a report by the Geneva-based Global Detention Project, an international research group that promotes the human rights of migrants in detention. Gary Yokoyama / The Hamilton Spectator File Photo There remain critical gaps in public information, including concerning which prisons are in use at any given time for immigration-related reasons. As of last November, the report said at least 16 people have died in immigration detention while in the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency since 2000. Immigration detention in Canada has been in the spotlight over the last two years with a series of deaths of migrants held in facilities for immigration violations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.