Mozambique Immigration Detention Profile | Global Detention Project | Mapping immigration detention around the world

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Mozambique Immigration Detention

Quick Facts

International migrants (2015): 222,900
New asylum applications (2016): 2,096

Centres List

No detention centres data available

Statistics Expand all



15,976

Criminal prison population

2015

  • Criminal prison population
NumberObservation Date
15,9762015
15,7352012
15,2492010
15,0002007
10,0002004
8,8121999
7,1201996


0.9

Percentage of foreign prisoners

2012

  • Percentage of foreign prisoners
PercentageObservation Date
0.92012


57

Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population)

2015

  • Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population)
NumberObservation Date
572015
642012
652010
692007
492004
491999
431996


27,978,000

Population

2015

  • Population
NumberObservation Date
27,978,0002015


222,900

International migrants

2015

  • International migrants
NumberObservation Date
222,9002015


0.8

International migrants as a percentage of the population

2015

  • International migrants as a percentage of the population
PercentageObservation Date
0.82015


4,907

Refugees

2018

  • Refugees
NumberObservation Date
4,9072018
4,8762017
4,6632016
5,6222015
4,5362014


0.16

Ratio of refugees per 1000 inhabitants

2016

  • Ratio of refugees per 1000 inhabitants
NumberObservation Date
0.162016
0.172014


2,096

Total number of new asylum applications

2016

  • Total number of new asylum applications
NumberObservation Date
2,0962016
3,2852014


100

Refugee recognition rate

2014

  • Refugee recognition rate
NumberObservation Date
1002014


0

Stateless persons

2016

  • Stateless persons
NumberObservation Date
02016
02015

Domestic Law Expand all

Legal tradition Show sources
NameObservation Date
Customary law2017
Civil law2017

B. LAWS AND REGULATIONS

C. GROUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE IMMIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

D. CRIMINALIZATION OF IMMIGRATION-RELATED OFFENCES

E. LENGTH OF DETENTION

F. PROCEDURAL STANDARDS

G. NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES (ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION)

H. VULNERABLE PERSONS

I. MANDATORY DETENTION

J. EXPEDITED REMOVAL AND RE-ENTRY BAN

Latest Update Show sources
Update StatusObservation Date
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 (and allegedly beaten) by police and immigration officers in Maratane Refugee Camp in the north-east of the country and have since been arbitrarily detained in Pemba, Cabo Delgado province. According to Amnesty International, the group have been held in inhuman conditions with no access to clean drinking water and no toilet in their cell, and no measures have been implemented in the prison to prevent the spread of Covid-19. They have not been provided with beds and instead are reported to be sleeping on sheets of paper on the floor. In June 2019, it was also reported that the group had been denied food and medical attention, and in April 2019 the prison in which they are held was reported to have been flooded and damaged by Cyclone Kenneth. Amnesty said in a 20 June statement, “The Mozambican government must immediately and unconditionally end the arbitrary detention of these refugees and release them without any delay or charge them with internationally recognizable offences if they have committed any crime.” In January 2019, Mozambican authorities had attempted to deport seven of the asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Congolese immigration authorities denied them entry. In a previous case in 2018 involving the six-month detention of three asylum seekers, a High Court ordered their release, affirming the rights of asylum seekers within the country. According to the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, despite Article 11 of the country’s Refugee Act stating that any criminal or administrative proceedings directly connected with illegal entry shall be suspended immediately upon the submission of the petition, asylum seekers have continued to be arrested and detained for illegal entry.2020

International Law Expand all

International treaties Show sources
NameRatification Year
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees1983
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime2006
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations1983
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination1983
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights1993
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women1997
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment1999
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child1994
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2012
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families2013
CRSSP, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons2014
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children2006
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment2014
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
  13/19
International treaty reservations Show sources
NameReservation YearObservation Date
CRSR Article 2219832017
Individual complaints procedure Show sources
NameAcceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 19992008
CRPD, Optional Protocol to o the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities2012
Ratio of complaints procedures accepted Show sources
NumberObservation Date
2/72017

Regional legal instruments Show sources
NameYear of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
ACHPR, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights1989
ACRWC, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child1998
APRW, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)2005

3. Bilateral/Multilateral agreements linked to readmissions

Relevant recommendations of the UN Universal Periodic Review Show sources
Recomendation IssuedYear IssuedObservation Date
No20112017
No20162017

Socio Economic Data Expand all

Gross Domestic Product per capita (in USD) Show sources
Gross Domestic Product per capita (in USD)Observation Date
5852014
Remittances to the country Show sources
Remittances to the country (in millions USD)Observation Date
2172014
Unemployment Rate Show sources
Unemployment RateObservation Date
2014
Net official development assistance (ODA) (in millions USD) Show sources
Net official development assistance (ODA) (in USD)Observation Date
2,103.42014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP) Show sources
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)UNDP four-tiered rankingObservation Date
180Low2015

B. Attitudes and Perceptions

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