Breaching international law : immigration detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

In November 1991, the US began to detain refugees offshore at the Migrant Operations Center (MOC) in the leased territory of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Despite President Obama’s Executive Order 13492 to close down the detention facilities used in the ‘war on terror’ in Guantánamo Bay, at no point has the Obama administration indicated any intention to close down the MOC. On the contrary, there is strong evidence of the US’ continuing commitment to offshore immigration detention there. This chapter will begin by outlining the history of immigration detention in Guantánamo Bay as an exclusively Haitian and, later, Haitian and Cuban detention facility before discussing current operations at the MOC. Immigration detainees in Guantánamo Bay are deprived of legal assistance and the right to review a refugee status determination (RSD) and must endure uncertainty regarding their resettlement. There has been much unrest among the detainee population in Guantánamo Bay. However, the remoteness of the MOC has meant that the struggles of the detainee population are largely hidden from public view.