On 12 March, the CPT published a report on its 2023 visit to Guadeloupe and French Guiana in which it highlighted significant concerns regarding the living conditions in immigration detention centres in France. The CPT found that the conditions in the two centres visited, namely the Centre de Rétention Administrative (CRA) in Guadeloupe and the CRA in French Guiana, were unsuitable for stays of more than 48 hours. Despite no allegations of ill-treatment by staff members, the CPT emphasised the need for improvements such as addressing overcrowding, heat, and lack of basic amenities like water in some centres. The French authorities have responded with detailed plans to enhance the material conditions in these facilities and practices related to isolation and restraint.

In addition, “in March, the CPT was invited to become an expert on a working group to give advice to FRA, who are currently working on monitoring methodologies in the context of the new monitoring obligations foreseen under the EU impact on migration and asylum, and in particular in the new Screening and Asylum Procedure Regulations, to assist EU Member States in setting up or designating national independent mechanisms to monitor compliance with fundamental rights during screening of third-country nationals and when examining asylum claims in border procedures.”