Somaliland

Population

3,600,000

2014

Overview

(July 2016) Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia and an unrecognised self-declared state, is a destination, transit, and source country for migrants and asylum seekers in the Horn of Africa. The arrest and detention of undocumented foreigners is common as the authorities seek to restrict the flow of transit migrants. Immigration-related detention tends to last for only a few days and migrants are deported as quickly as possible.

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

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Last updated: July 2016

Somaliland Immigration Detention Profile

    Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia and an unrecognized self-declared state, is an origin, destination, and transit country for migrants in the Horn of Africa. Many Ethiopians and Somalis travel through Somaliland to Puntland or Djibouti en route to the Gulf States. Somaliland also serves as a destination for economic migrants and asylum seekers form Ethiopia. The arrest and detention of migrants is common as Somaliland authorities attempt to restrict the flow of migrants and decrease the amount of unauthorized foreigners residing in the territory.[1]

    Undocumented people detained in Somaliland are usually held in police stations. Detention tends to last several days at most because Somaliland authorities do not have the resources to support long-term detention. Authorities seek to either deport intercepted migrants or transfer their care to the International Organization for Migration, which occasionally provides assistance to apprehended migrants in the territory. However, people intercepted in Loya’ada, a border town between Somaliland and Djibouti, face the possibility of unlimited detention depending on when they can be transported back to the Ethiopian border.[2]

    Migrants have reportedly been detained at Loya’ada police station (based on its geographical location, on the border between Djibouti or Somaliland, it is unclear to which territory this facility rightly belongs). Conditions at this station, according to the Somaliland Mixed Migration Task Force, are very poor.[3] Migrants have also been detained at the Central Police Station in Hargeisa. One refugee who was detained at the Central Police Station told Human Rights Watch that six injured refugees detained there “had not received medical assistance for three days before they were released.”[4] The conditions in Somaliland’s prisons, where migrants are also likely detained, have been described as inhumane by the UN Independent Expert for Somalia.[5] Issues include a lack of water, sanitation, and ventilation. In 2013, Somaliland authorities permitted a Prison Conditions Management Committee that had been organized by the UN Development Programme to visit prisons. The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia’s Human Rights Unit has also been allowed to visit prisons.[6]

     

    [1] Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, Behind Bars: The Detention of Migrants in and from the East and Horn of Africa, 2015, http://www.regionalmms.org/.

    [2] Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, Behind Bars: The Detention of Migrants in and from the East and Horn of Africa, 2015, http://www.regionalmms.org/.

    [3]  Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, Behind Bars: The Detention of Migrants in and from the East and Horn of Africa, 2015, http://www.regionalmms.org/.

    [4] Human Rights Watch, “Somaliland: Stop Deporting Ethiopian Refugees,” 4 September 2012, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/04/somaliland-stop-deporting-ethiopian-refugees.

    [5] UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia, Shamsul Bari,” United Nations, A/HRC/21/61, 22 August 2012, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A.HRC.21.61_en.pdf.

    [6] U.S. Department of State, Somalia 2014 Human Rights Report, 2014, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236616.pdf.

    DETENTION STATISTICS

    DETAINEE DATA

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

    DETENTION CAPACITY

    ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

    ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

    PRISON DATA

    POPULATION DATA

    Population (Year)
    3,600,000
    2014

    SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

    MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

    GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

    LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

    GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

    LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

    Maximum Length of Detention at Port of Entry
    Number of Days: 549
    2013

    MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS

    Detention Facility Management
    Police (Government-local)
    2012
    Types of Detention Facilities Used in Practice
    2015

    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

    Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
    Ratio: 0/19

    NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

    REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

    DETENTION COSTS

    OUTSOURCING

    FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS