Right to Health, Securitisation of Migration and Standards of Immigration Detention in South Africa and Australia

Abstract

Several countries employ immigration detention (ID) to deter the influx of asylum seekers, refugees, and irregular migrants and South Africa and Australia are no exception. The result follows that globally, tens of thousands of people are detained due to their immigration status, despite the well-established fact that ID negatively impacts the health and well-being of detainees and should only be used as a last resort. This study considers the broad range of international and African regional human rights instruments and treaty protections that create the framework for regulating migration and protecting the fundamental human rights (including health) and freedoms of immigration detainees. It further dives into the realities of health rights in ID in South Africa and Australia, measured against the theoretical framework of these governments’ duties to ‘respect, protect and fulfil’ detainees’ right to health and maintain normative immigration detention standards. Non-compliance with this international human rights framework is pointed out, and positive steps towards meeting state obligations are proposed.