ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the variety of levels and forms of privatisation adopted by several Member States of the European Union in this area of immigration policy, as well as the challenges related to the outsourcing of immigration control. As immigration detention has grown, so too has the range of actors involved in this policy, including for-profit companies, non-for-profit humanitarian groups, and international organisations. The contemporary use of private companies to manage immigration detention facilities began in Europe. The Global Detention Project (GDP), an interdisciplinary research centre based in Geneva, Switzerland, employs the following definition: "The deprivation of liberty of noncitizens for reasons related to their immigration status." The different organisational arrangements demonstrate motives for privatisation as well various forms of accountability that could lead to important improvements. Private companies thus have a material interest in the expansion of detention by trumpeting moral panics of refugee crises and influencing politicians and security officials of their important role.
