It’s punishment, not detention

October 12, 2011 in General, News

detention_01The number of migrants and asylum seekers being detained in Europe is growing, and many are experiencing their detention as punishment, to the detriment of their physical and mental health. This was just one of the concerns raised at a seminar for Jesuit social justice and research centres across Euorpe. John K. Guiney SJ and Eoin Carroll, both from the Irish Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, travelled to Antwerp in late September to attend the seminar on Migration and Detention in Europe. There they also gave a presentation on the proposed theme of the 2012 conference: Re-imagining Imprisonment in Europe: Common Challenges, Diverse Policies and Practice. The conference will aim to affect change in the current trend of rising prison populations and explore how imprisonment might be structured within a new vision and set of values.