COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES In particular, we noted in March 2020 that halting visitors to detention is insufficient as the constant flow of detainees and staff in and out of the centres may still result in infections. 22 This concern later manifested in Songkhla detention centres, where 65 detainees tested positive for COVID-19 about two weeks after an immigration officer who tested positive for COVID-19 visited the facility. 23 The authors would like to personally thank Phillips, an individual who has sought asylum in Thailand. Phillips was instrumental in gathering the information about the precautions taken by immigration authorities in immigration detention centres and the living conditions in detention centres. The views expressed in this article belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors’ employer or organisation. ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS DARON TAN Research Consultant, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Despite these advocacy efforts, the RTG’s COVID-19 response regarding refugees can be characterised as reactive rather than proactive, and falls short of international human rights and public health standards. On the one hand, we commend the immigration authorities’ attempts to implement safeguarding measures in detention. In particular, the RTG’s undertaking of risk assessments of new detainees, including collecting information on their medical history, their recent travel history, and possible contact with confirmed cases in the last 14 days, is in line with WHO guidelines. 24 MANACHAYA YANKITTIKUL Protection and Paralegal Program Officer, Asylum Access Thailand On the other hand, the RTG’s response can be improved further to eliminate the risk of an outbreak in these detention centres, especially in the event of a second wave of the virus in Thailand. We recommend that the authorities provide new and existing detainees with masks, gloves, soap, and hand sanitiser, and ensure that they are able to observe physical distancing, in line with WHO guidance. 25 The RTG should also consider heeding the CESCR’s recommendations in 2015 to ensure “adequate living conditions in detention centres”, 26 which are even more relevant now in the face of the pandemic. Further, in line with guidance from the UN agencies, 27 we encourage the RTG to consider releasing all refugees from immigration detention, or, at the very least, increase the use of alternatives to detention for particularly vulnerable groups of detainees. This will also assist in easing the overcrowding in detention centres and reduce the strain on immigration authorities to implement adequate social distancing measures. We reiterate the calls on the RTG to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to health of refugees during this pandemic. This will ultimately have an overall positive impact on the public health of the whole country. We further urge the RTG to see through its implementation of the national screening mechanism, which will hopefully regularise the legal status of individuals who cannot return to their countries because they fear danger from persecution. 28 22 Daron Tan and Manachaya Yankittikul, A Looming Catastrophe: COVID-19, Urban Refugees, and the Right to Health in Thailand, 11 May 2020, https://rli.blogs.sas. ac.uk/2020/05/11/a-looming-catastrophe-covid-19-urban-refugees-and-the-right-to-health-in-thailand/. 23 Human Rights Watch, Thailand Should Free Detained Migrants Amid Pandemic, 8 May 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/08/thailand-should-freedetained-migrants-amid-pandemic. 24 World Health Organization, Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention, 15 March 2020, https://www.euro.who.int/_ _ data/assets/pdf_file/0019/434026/Preparedness-prevention-and-control-of-COVID-19-in-prisons.pdf?ua=1, at 8. 25 Ibid, at 19. 26 CESCR, Concluding observations on the combined initial and second periodic reports of Thailand, UN Doc. E/C.12/THA/CO/1-2, 19 June 2015, at para 28. 27 International Organization for Migration, OHCHR, IOM, UNHCR and WHO – Joint Press Release, 31 March 2020, https://www.iom.int/news/rights-and-healthrefugees-migrants-and-stateless-must-be-protected-covid-19-response. 28 Thailand: Regulation of the Office of the Prime Minister on the Screening of Aliens who Enter into the Kingdom and are Unable to Return to the Country of Origin B.E. 2562 [Thailand], 25 December 2019, https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e675a774.html. idcoalition.org | westernsydney.edu.au/hadri 53