Mozambique

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

4,992

2022

Asylum Applications

25,919

2022

International Migrants

338,850

2020

Population

33,900,000

2023

Overview

Types of facilities used for migration-related detention
Administrative Ad Hoc Criminal Unknown

21 June 2020 – Mozambique

On World Refugee Day (20 June), rights groups called on Mozambican authorities to release a group of 16 African refugees and asylum seekers detained in the country since 2019 and who are held in conditions in which their health is not safeguarded. The group, which includes 15 Congolese people and one Ethiopian man, were arrested […]

Read More…

Amnesty International, “Mozambique: Failure to Release African Asylum Seekers and Refugees Reveals Disturbing Flaws in Justice System,” 20 June 2020, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/mozambique-failure-to-release-african-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-reveals-disturbing-flaws-in-justice-system/
Last updated:

DETENTION STATISTICS

Total Migration Detainees: Flow + Stock (year)
Not Available
2019

DETAINEE DATA

Total Number of Children Placed in Immigration Detention (Year)
0
2017

DETENTION CAPACITY

ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

PRISON DATA

Criminal Prison Population (Year)
15,976
2015
15,735
2012
15,249
2010
15,000
2007
10,000
2004
8,812
1999
7,120
1996
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
0.9
2012
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
57
2015
64
2012
65
2010
69
2007
49
2004
49
1999
43
1996

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
33,900,000
2023
31,300,000
2020
27,978,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
338,850
2020
334,665
2019
222,900
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
1.08
2020
0.8
2015
Refugees (Year)
4,992
2022
4,797
2021
4,757
2020
4,713
2019
4,907
2018
4,876
2017
4,663
2016
5,622
2015
4,536
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.16
2016
0.17
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
25,919
2022
797
2019
2,096
2016
3,285
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
100
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
0
2022
0
2016
0
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
585
2014
Remittances to the Country
217
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
2,103.4
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
180 (Low)
2015

MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2023
Yes
2020
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2023

GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017
Customary law
2017

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS

PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS

DETENTION MONITORS

> National human rights monitoring bodies

> National Preventive Mechanisms (Optional Protocol to UN Convetion against Torture)

> Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

> Governmental monitoring bodies

> International detention monitoring

TRANSPARENCY

READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS

COVID-19

HEALTH CARE

COVID-19 DATA

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1983
2017
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1983
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1983
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1993
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1997
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1999
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1994
2017
CRSSP, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
2014
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2006
2017
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2006
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2013
2017
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2012
2017
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2014
2014
PCRSR, Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1989
1989
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 14/19
Treaty Reservations
Reservation Year
Observation Date
CRSR Article 22 1983
1983
2017
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2008
2008
CRPD, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2012
2012
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
2/7
2017
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child § 43. "Recalling joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families/No. 22 and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the human rights of children in the context of international migration, the Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Ensure that asylum procedures systematically identify and refer unaccompanied or separated children to appropriate protection and support services; facilitate these children ’ s access to services such as education and health care; and ensure that best interests assessments are carried out at all stages of the procedures, including by ensuring safety and security for asylum-seeking and refugee children in camps; (b) Ensure that all the children living in Maratane refugee camp have full access to the existing child protection system, including education and health services; (c) Consider withdrawing all of its reservations to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees." 2019
2019

NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Relevant Recommendations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2016
2017
No 2011
2017

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
APRW, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) 2005
2005
2017
ACRWC, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1998
1998
2017
ACHPR, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights 1989
1989
2017

DETENTION COSTS

OUTSOURCING

FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS