The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, a former Portuguese colony located in the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa, had reported a total of 1,786 COVID-19 cases, representing less than one percent of its population (215,000), as of February 2021. There is little information available about the impact of the pandemic on migrants […]
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DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
GROUNDS FOR DETENTION
LENGTH OF DETENTION
DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
COSTS & OUTSOURCING
COVID-19 DATA
TRANSPARENCY
MONITORING
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING BODIES
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISMS (OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE)
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOS)
GOVERNMENTAL MONITORING BODIES
INTERNATIONAL DETENTION MONITORING
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES & TREATY BODIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2006
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2006
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2017
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2017
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 13/19
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Migrant Workers
28. The Committee notes with regret the lack of information on due process safeguards,
including access to a lawyer and an interpreter, for migrant workers and members of their
families who are subject to investigation or arrest, detention or expulsion for immigration-related offences.
2023
2023
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, a former Portuguese colony located in the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa, had reported a total of 1,786 COVID-19 cases, representing less than one percent of its population (215,000), as of February 2021. There is little information available about the impact of the pandemic on migrants in the country, who in 2015 made up a mere 1.3 percent of its population, or with respect to immigration detainees or prisoners. The country does not have a functioning asylum procedure.
The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in São Tomé and Príncipe reported that the country had overcrowded prisons that lacked medical services and infrastructure, and failed to separate pretrial and convicted detainees, and children and adults. It also reported that roughly 25 percent of the imprisoned population were pretrial detainees.
The country recorded its first four COVID-19 cases on 6 April 2020, the last country in Africa to do so. The country announced a state of emergency in March, before it reported its first case of infection, which included an international travel ban except for citizens. On 6 May 2020, a new lockdown was imposed, which only allowed exceptions for essential businesses, shift workers, and food service providers, until 17 May 2020. The state of emergency was downgraded to a “state of alert” in June, and then upgraded again to a “state of calamity” in November 2020, which remained in place as of February 2021.
Government Agencies
Ministry of foreign affairs - https://stp.gov.st/ministerios_detail?id=v1nxf0wooxwpshymk9monkh
Ministry of internal order - https://stp.gov.st/ministerios_detail?id=sqyivowlh1xghotej425vtre
International Organisations
UNHCR - https://www.unhcr.org/
IOM - https://rodakar.iom.int/sao-tome-and-principe
NGO & Research Institutions
Caritas - https://www.caritas.org/where-caritas-work/africa/sao-tome-and-principe/
Red Cross Society - https://www.ifrc.org/national-societies-directory/sao-tome-and-principe-red-cross
Amnesty - https://www.amnesty.org/en/
