THE DETENTION OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS IN THE UNITED STATES: FROM FORCED MIGRATION TO PUNISHMENT

Abstract

The present situation of the refugee international regime is a result of the historical affirmation of human rights, so that refuge and human rights are intrinsically related. The detention of asylum-seekers is an example of how intern procedures of the countries can oppose their commitments to human rights and to international protection: it is an usual practice during the process of refugee status determination, punishing the person forced to leave his/her country and seek international protection, introducing him/her into the penal system or into a prison-like system and, thus, systematically violating the rights of people who only seek the guaranty of their rights. This paper analyzes the characteristics of this practice and aims to demonstrate how it, because violates human rights, undermines the refuge – which exists exactly because of the imperative of respect for these rights. We concentrate specifically on the detention of asylum-seekers in the United States, because it was a great booster for the creation of the human rights and refugee international regimes, because it frequently uses, in its discourse, the sign of the human rights as parameter for the action of the states and for being one of the countries which have the largest numbers of refugees.