COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES From their phone calls to the Group, detainees expressed that uncertainty about their own and one another’s health and future had been a great source of stress. One of them reported that all detainees were immediately tested for COVID-19, while around 30 close contacts to the confirmed case simply ‘disappeared’ for isolation purposes. Moreover, detainees reported a lack of protective gear and sanitation products in CIC. A detainee who was transferred from prison in early 2020 recounted not being allowed to bring his own facial masks along and that it took a week-long collective complaint by detainees in April – when the second-wave outbreak in the city started to wane – for CIC to start supplying facial masks once a day. There was also no supply of alcohol gel and wet tissues for disinfection. Detainees relied on handouts from visitors (only if they had any). Only 3 packs of wet tissues – 10 pieces each – were allowed monthly. Many of them complained that banning visits meant they were denied even daily essentials like soap and clothes. It is easy to overlook that the stoppage of international flights also unfairly extended detainees’ period of detention. Since 6 September 2020, detainees reported that several people had their planned deportation that week suddenly delayed until further notice. Exdetainees surveyed by the CIC Concern Group in May 2020 reported that groups of 40-50 Thai and groups of mainland Chinese were unable to get deported for months, which led to severe overcrowding in the facilities. According to the Immigration Department, until 15 June 2020, around 35 CIC detainees were awaiting international flights6. Some detainees, including migrant domestic workers fired due to the pandemic, explained that they were detained precisely because their country went into lockdown, such that they were forced to overstay, being unable to return. Even though the authorities detain on the basis that they can deport within a reasonable timeframe, in practice they could not do so and detention became prolonged. In light of this, Human right lawyers the Group consulted in private said that the pandemic arguably constituted a reason for the release of detainees. CIC CONCERN GROUP TO AMPLIFY DETAINEES’ VOICES CIC Detainees’ Rights Concern Group is a voluntary alliance formed by friends of Yuli Riswati, an Indonesian migrant worker who was unjustly detained in CIC in November 20197. Since then, the Concern Group actively engaged ex-detainees, detainees’ visitors, local lawmakers, human rights lawyers and NGOs, the media and volunteers. The group conducted surveys outside CIC since May 2020, gathered ex-detainees and exposed inhumane detention conditions publicly. Public awareness and media attention surged further after the Group publicised the hunger strike on its second day and staged small-scale protests on the 7th and 17th day of strike, despite the government’s restrictions on outdoor group gatherings of over 4 and later 2 people. Father Franco Mella, a seasoned activist who had supported migrants’ rights in Hong Kong for decades, staged a 50-hour hunger strike in solidarity in mid-August. Solidarity action outside CIC – visible to detainees through their windows – were also staged intermittently, which helped boosting the morale of detainees. 8am (6 September 2020) Sunday Protest with Franco Mella’s singing for all detainees in CIC. The protest lasted for an hour, and detainees waved towels outside the bars and shouted ‘Freedom now’ back throughout. 6 Immigration Department of the HKSAR Government (2020, Jun 29). Letter in reply to legislator Shiu Ka-chun (in Chinese). Reference: L/M (5) in ImmD CIC/ OPS/4/12(C) Pt.1 7 See (2020, July 13), ‘Violent Strip Search, Denied Medication – Former Detainees Speak Out against Abuse in Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre’. Stand News. Retrieved from https://www.thestandnews.com/society/violent-strip-search-denied-medication-former-detainees-speak-out-against-abuse-in-castle-peak-bayimmigration-centre/ (3 Sep 2020) idcoalition.org | westernsydney.edu.au/hadri 25