This report does not intend to provide a comprehensive analysis of the situation of immigration detention, nor of the legal framework or practices in the OSCE region. It only reflects key issues highlighted during the discussions among participants of the two-day event which was held under Chatham House rules. About terminology For the purpose of this meeting report, and in the absence of an international legal definition, the term “migrant” will refer to “any person who is outside a State of which they are a citizen or national, or, in the case of a stateless person, their State of birth or habitual residence.”3 This term is used irrespective of legal status or the reason for migration. “Immigration detention” is defined as the deprivation of a person’s liberty for the breach of entry, stay and transit rules in a given receiving country. Deprivation of liberty should be understood broadly, as per the definition contained in article 4(2) of the OPCAT: “any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority”. Immigration detention is usually of an administrative character.4 It shall therefore never be punitive in either purpose or effect.5 States are obliged to avoid prison-like environments, and to guarantee certain standards concerning the material conditions, the length of detention and the respectful treatment in accordance with the non-criminal status of migrants in detention. In other words, the conditions of immigration detention should reflect the administrative nature of detention in comparison with the criminal justice system.6 OHCHR, Principles and Guidelines on the human rights protection of migrants in vulnerable situations, p. 14 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/PrinciplesAndGuidelines.pdf. 4 Monitoring Immigration Detention – Practical Manual, APT, UNHCR and IDC, 2014, https://www.apt.ch/content/files_res/monitoring-immigration-detention_practical-manual.pdf 5 Op.cit., note 1. 6 States shall “ensure that any detention in the context of international migration follows due process, is nonarbitrary, based on law, necessity, proportionality and individual assessments, is carried out by authorized officials, and for the shortest possible period of time, irrespective of whether detention occurs at the moment of entry, in transit, or proceedings of return, and regardless of the type of place where the detention occurs.” […] “to prioritize noncustodial alternatives to detention that are in line with international law, and to take a human rights-based approach to any detention of migrants, using detention as a measure of last resort only”, see Global Compact For Safe, Orderly And Regular Migration, Objective 13, 11 July 2018, to be adopted in December 2018, https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180711_final_draft_0.pdf. 3 6