As for all other expert groups, 2020 has been a challenging year for the FNPP group. A planned meeting in The Netherlands, alongside a conference with the Dutch prison for foreign nationals, which would have been the first meeting for new EuroPris members from Austria, Catalonia Spain, Lithuania and Cyprus, as well as new CEP members, was postponed at short notice. However, despite work challenges with the extra demands on members due to Covid-19, 2020 proved to be very productive for the group. This is against the background of foreign prisoners facing difficulties in addition to those facing all prisoner groups, particularly in maintaining family and community contacts abroad. The increased and innovative use of the internet and other communication opportunities in the place of prison visits has ameliorated their absence to an extent. Nevertheless, the impact on the mental health of foreign prisoners has been particularly significant due to the greater isolation, home concerns, impoverished regimes and delays in returning or being returned home abroad faced by this group. The impact of Covid-19 and the prisons’ response to the management of foreign national prisoners as a group under exceptional operational pressures, their effectiveness and whether they should remain in place, will be an important focus of the group’s future work plan.

The activities of the group this year have included the production of a Special Edition EuroPris Newsletter in Autumn 2020 on foreign national prisoners and offenders in the community. Expert group members provided reports, studies and summaries covering the impact of Covid-19. The expert group’s e-learning module, ‘Managing Foreign National Prisoners’, developed in conjunction with the Council of Europe HELP Programme, continues to provide a useful and engaging training programme for prison staff, particularly useful during the pandemic with staff training opportunities restricted and independent on-line learning being an alternative format. In addition, in December, four group members contributed their expertise at an seminar organised by the European Law Academy, ERA in which EuroPris was a partner, entitled ‘European Prison Rules for European Prison Conditions’. Focusing on foreign national prisoners and the Council of Europe’s Recommendations 2012(12). Dr Roisin Mulgrew made a keynote address with other members hosting and presenting in a workshop session on managing foreign prisoners.