COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES RECOMMENDATIONS The Saudi government should investigate and appropriately discipline or prosecute security personnel responsible for firing upon Ethiopian migrants at the Yemen border. Any “shoot on sight” order should be immediately revoked. The authorities should also investigate allegations of abuse at migrant detention centers, and appropriately discipline or prosecute those found responsible. Immigration detention should be an exceptional measure of last resort, for the shortest period, and only if justified by a legitimate purpose. Children should never be detained for migrationrelated reasons. In the interim, Saudi authorities should transfer migrant detainees to centers that meet international standards and should work with international agencies to bring migrant detention centers in line with international standards under the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (“Mandela Rules”). The Saudi authorities should urgently identify and release children along with their family members, and provide safe alternatives to detention to which humanitarian agencies have regular access. They should also identify and release pregnant and nursing women in line with international guidelines on the detention of asylum seekers. Those released from detention facilities should undergo adequate medical screening to ensure they receive, if necessary, proper care and follow-up. Beyond the immediate crisis of Ethiopian migrants in detention, Saudi Arabia should ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and establish asylum procedures consistent with international standards for stateless people and foreign nationals at risk of persecution in their home countries. Saudi Arabia should immediately allow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to exercise its mandate by allowing it to determine asylum seekers’ refugee status and facilitate durable solutions, including integration in Saudi Arabia, for those recognized as refugees. NADIA HARDMAN Refugee and Migrant Rights Researcher, Human Rights Watch 44 International Detention Coalition and Western Sydney University