COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES The Group also began visiting hunger strikers frequently and built a trusted relationship with them, and their families and friends. Thus, timely updates were received. AUTHORITIES IN DENIAL – BUT RESPONDING SLUGGISHLY Given intense pressure from the public and hunger strikers, top Immigration Department officials invited the Group and lawmakers to meet on 28 July and 9 August 2020. They reported that each striker’s case had been reviewed by the department Director, and four of the 28 strikers had been released. Yet, they denied charges of indefinite detention and abuse by officers, and offered poor explanations for the long-deficient hygiene and medical conditions. When pressed about the unjustifiable practice of detention during the pandemic, the Department replied that their communication with consulates for identity documents and flight arrangements, as well as successful deportation of isolated detainees continued, so the pandemic did not pose a significant obstacle to the deportation process. The group disagreed and later made urgent appeals to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. On 12 August, the Immigration Department issued an unusually strongworded statement, denying the existence of indefinite detention at all8. Despite this hardened stance, there seem to be changes inside CIC due to intense civil society monitoring: some detainees reported receiving more active reviews of the grounds for their detention. CIC Concern Group believes that civil society initiatives can play the simple yet important role of addressing the huge information asymmetry that exist regarding immigration detention situation, especially during COVID-19. Detainees need reliable sources of support for basic material and legal needs, and channels to make their complaints heard. Citizens need to be informed about the way their government treats detainees discreetly. By persistently doing these simple things while building stronger grassroot and civil society alliances, we can make a difference. 8am (6 September 2020) Sunday Protest. The protest lasted for an hour, and detainees waved towels outside the bars and shouted ‘Freedom now’ back throughout. ANNA TSUI Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre Detainees’ Rights Concern Group 8 HKSAR Government (2020, Aug 12), ‘Immigration Department strongly condemns unfounded allegations against Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre by online media’. Retrieved from https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202008/13/P2020081300599.htm?fontSize=1 (3 Sep 2020) 26 International Detention Coalition and Western Sydney University