04 June 2020
Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 Survey, the UN Human Rights regional office in Panama (ROCA) reported that El Salvador has not established a moratorium on new immigration detention orders and that the country is not contemplating the measure. ROCA also explained that no immigration detainees have been released and that there are no “alternatives to detention” programmes employed in the country. As regards deportations and expulsions, the UN office said that while these have been temporarily suspended, there is no specific measure prohibiting them. ROCA also stated that returned migrants who are detained in quarantine centres are tested for Covid-19. According to IOM, more than 1,100 people have been returned to El Salvador, mostly from the United States (more than 95 percent) during 11 March - 30 April.
On 7 April, 70 Salvadoran nationals were returned from the United States on a flight from Houston airport. Upon arrival, they were transferred to one of the 11 quarantine centres in the country for a duration of 30 days. Five days after their arrival, one returnee developed symptoms of Covid-19, but medical authorities only provided him paracetamol and did not test him for the disease. A month later, when around 100 people were in the quarantine centre, the government decided to test all detainees. A week later, it was confirmed that a few had been infected. El Faro reported that these Salvadoran detainees had been detained in different detention centres in the United States and none of them had been tested upon entry to the centres or prior to deportation. On 22 May, the country’s Ombudsman (Procuraduría para Derechos Humanos or PDDH) announced that they had received complaints from people detained in one of the quarantine centres, the Gimnasio Nacional centre, regarding three positive Covid-19 cases. However, the Ombudsman said that relevant authorities had not communicated the exact number of Covid-19 cases within the centre and that the director of the Salvadoran immigration authority, Ricardo Cucalon, had violated the PDDH law as he had refused to provide information to the ombudsman. The director did not respond to two requests sent on 27 April and 11 May and requested his personnel not to collaborate with the PDDH.
As of 29 May, there remained 108 Salvadoran nationals in the Gimnasio Nacional quarantine centre.
On 14 May 2020, a habeas corpus action was presented to the Supreme Court by twenty-two returnees urging authorities to allow them to return to their homes as they have been detained for forty-five days and have been tested for Covid-19 twice. The returnees’ legal representative said that another reason such a request is being made are the poor hygienic conditions within the centre. Social distancing is not being implemented and when it rains, mattresses get wet and the centre floods. On 20 May, the Ministry of Health informed detainees that they would be transferred to their homes. Nonetheless, there are still migrants in the Gimnasio Nacional that are waiting for a third Covid-19 test and have not yet been released.
As regards the country’s prisons, on 26 May, health authorities in the country announced that there have been at least 36 positive cases of Covid-19. Twenty five were detected in a prison in San Vincente and 11 in the Quezaltepeque prison. The news comes after reports indicating an extreme toughening of detention conditions following violence in the past few weeks. Photographs showing detainees grouped together and wearing only underwear and without adequate protection or physical distancing have been published (see 2 May El Salvador update on this platform).
- Reuters, “Thirty Six Inmates Test Positive for Coronavirus in Salvadoran Prisons,” 25 May 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/05/25/world/americas/25reuters-health-coronavirus-elsalvador.html
- OHCHR (Byron Cardenas), Global Detention Project Covid-19 Survey, 1 June 2020.
- G. Cáceres & N. R. Zablah, “Cuatro Deportados por Estados Unidos Dieron Positivo al Covid-19 en El Salvador,” Elfaro, 29 May 2020, https://elfaro.net/es/202005/el_salvador/24467/Cuatro-deportados-por-Estados-Unidos-dieron-positivo-al-covid-19-en-El-Salvador.htm
- IOM, “Encuesta de Medios de Vida a Población Migrante Retornada en El Salvador en el Marco del Covid-19,” 27 May 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/el-salvador/encuesta-de-medios-de-vida-poblaci-n-migrante-retornada-en-el-salvador-en-el
- Inside a Temporary Quarantine Centre, Gimnasio Adolfo Pineda, (El Faro, "Cuatro Deportados por Estados Unidos Dieron Positivo al Covid-19 en El Salvador," 29 May 2020, https://elfaro.net/es/202005/el_salvador/24467/Cuatro-deportados-por-Estados-Unidos-dieron-positivo-al-covid-19-en-El-Salvador.htm)
02 May 2020
In early March, El Salvador introduced a strict quarantine lock-down, despite authorities announcing that there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19. The country’s measures—which have included the use of the armed forces and national police to enforce quarantine, and the detention of people in forced confinement for breaching the lock-down—have prompted concerns that President Bukele is utilising the pandemic to consolidate his power. On 30 April, a network of NGOs including Amnesty International published an open letter to the President, expressing concern regarding the government’s actions. “The authorities have detained thousands of people and taken them to holding centres that often lack measures to ensure a minimum level of sanitation and physical separation. With this strategy, the government only increases the risk of contagion instead of protecting people from the virus.”
Particular concerns have arisen regarding conditions in the country’s penitentiary establishments, which are notorious for their degrading and inhumane conditions. Following reports of a spate of homicides across the country on 24 April, authorities initiated collective punishment by locking down prisons. President Bukele tweeted that gang members would be isolated, inmates would be denied all contact with the outside world, and activities would be suspended until further notice. Images shared online depict prisoners stripped and stacked together while the police searched their cells. Only some are seen as wearing facemasks, and no efforts to follow social-distancing measures are in place. Reportedly, the emergency declaration in detention facilities would be extended indefinitely.
Amidst news of Mexico emptying its detention centres and returning detainees to countries of origin, El Salvador’s Ministry of Foreign Relations confirmed that 41 Salvadorian migrants had been returned on 23 April. The capital’s airport reportedly remains open to receive flights with deportees who, upon arrival, are transferred to one of the nine quarantine facilities setup in San Salvador.
- R. Mellen, “El Salvador’s President Says The Country Has No Coronavirus Cases, Declares a National Quarantine,” Washington Post, 12 March 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-coronavirus-quarantine/2020/03/12/d920e9a4-6404-11ea-8a8e-5c5336b32760_story.html
- Amnesty International, “El Salvador: International Organizations Call on President Bukele To Respect Human Rights in Response to Covid-19,” 30 April 2020, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/el-salvador-presidente-bukele-derechos-humanos-covid19/
- Human Rights Watch, “El Salvador: Inhumane Prison Lockdown Treatment,” 29 April 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/29/el-salvador-inhumane-prison-lockdown-treatment
- E. Ayala, “La pandemia incrementa vulnerabilidad de migrantes centroamericanos,” Inter Press Service, April 2020, https://www.ipsnoticias.net/2020/04/la-pandemia-incrementa-vulnerabilidad-migrantes-centroamericanos/
- Prisoners Handcuffed and Stacked Together as Punishment for Spate of Violence Within Prisons, (Jose Cabezas, Reuters, "Harrowing Photos Show Prisoners Stacked Together as Punishment for a Spate of Violence in El Salvador," Insider, 30 April 2020, https://www.insider.com/harrowing-photos-show-prisoners-stacked-together-in-el-salvador-2020-4)
Last updated: September 2015
El Salvador Immigration Detention Profile
While almost 40 percent of El Salvador’s population lives abroad, it is also a transit and destination country. Migrants apprehended without proper documents are detained as they await deportation. Although immigration detention is not properly regulated in law, in practice El Salvador tends to confine more than 1,000 migrants per year (1,200 in 2009) and operates a dedicated immigration detention centre called the Centro de Atención Integral para el Migrante (CAMI).
A small and densely populated country, El Salvador has long been a country of emigration. However, mass emigration from the country has attracted people from nearby countries in search of jobs, particularly in the agriculture and construction sectors. El Salvador also serves as an important transit state for people migrating north. In 2004 border guards apprehended 2,332 persons without documents, and 2,255 in 2005.[1]
El Salvador’s immigration regime is established in a series of long-standing pieces of legislation: the 1958 Migration Law (Ley de Migración), and its accompanying 1959 Regulation of the Migration Law, as well as the 1986 Foreigners’ Law (Ley de Extranjería). A draft of a new migration and foreigners’ law, intended to consolidate and replace the existing legislation, has been in negotiations for several years. The 2002 Refugees Law (Ley para la Determinación de la Condición de Personas Refugiadas) and the 2005 Regulation of the Refugees Law provide the legal framework for the country’s asylum and refugee regime.[2]
The Refugee Law provides for the detention of persons seeking asylum for a maximum of three days during the initial screening procedures (articles 15-16). However, the Migration Law and the Foreigners’ Law do not provide for administrative detention. The only provision mentioning detention is article 60 of the Migration Law, in the section titled “Sanctions.” Accordingly, a foreigner who enters El Salvador in an undocumented manner can be punished with a fine, which can be replaced by a detention (arresto) of up to 30 days. In 2003, the Supreme Court of El Salvador declared such deprivation of liberty as unconstitutional because under article 14 of the country’s constitution deprivation of liberty ordered by administrative organ can last only up to five days. In 2011 the Supreme Court found that Salvadorian legislation does not provide for detention as part of expulsion procedures.[3]
Despites this legal vacuum, in practice migrants who are apprehended without papers are detained to prepare their deportation.[4] As observed by civil society organisations, like Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, in El Salvador authorities systematically apply immigration detention and there are no alternatives to detention. The majority of detainees are not from Central America.[5]
According to statistics from the Migration Directorate, 372 persons were detained in 2006, 1,645 in 2007, 1,527 in 2008, and 1,229 in 2009.[6] As of 23 October 2008, there were five people in detention.[7]
A handbook produced by the Salvadoran border guards division of the Migration Directorate states that the maximum time migrants can be held in a detention centre is five days. Governmental sources reported in 2008 that the average time period people spend in immigration detention was roughly five days.[8] However, in 2007 non-governmental organizations observed that detention typically lasted between 45 days and 3 months.[9] According to information provided by advocacy organisation, in 2014 the average length of detention was 30 days though some cases reportedly lasted considerably longer.[10]
There is no automatic review of detention. Civil society organisations, such as Programa de Atención a Personas Refugiadas en El Salvador (IAES PARES), offer legal assistance to detainees.[11]
In July 2008 the country opened a dedicated immigration detention facility, called the Centro de Atención Integral para el Migrante (CAIM). It appears to be the only long-term immigration facility used in El Salvador. The centre is managed by the Migration Directorate (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería) and is located at the premises of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in San Salvador. Before opening the centre, migrants were generally detained in police facilities, particularly those located in border areas (División de Fronteras de la Policía Nacional Civil).[12]
According to a 2008 report from the Salvadoran government, the CAIM facility has a maximum capacity of 80. The building has three floors and a basement. There is a kitchen and an eating room, alongside a visiting, entertainment, and recreation room. The centre is divided in four sections for men, women, families, and vulnerable persons, each equipped with a bathroom. The government reportedly spent almost 190,000 USD for the renovation and reconstruction of the building to set up the centre.[13] According to the government, detainees receive adequate food and medical, psychological, and social assistance. The National Civil Police and the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance signed an agreement under which the latter is to ensure prompt medical assistance for detainees.[14]
Unaccompanied minors are taken into charge by the Salvadoran Institute for the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents (Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez y la Adolescencia).[15] However, children who migrate with their parents or guardians are have been with their families at the CAIM facility.[16]
[1] Government of El Salvador. CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 73 OF THE CONVENTION: Initial reports of States parties due in 2004: EL SALVADOR. OHCHR. 20 August 2007. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/436/47/PDF/G0743647.pdf?OpenElement, p. 11-20.
[2] Government of El Salvador. CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 73 OF THE CONVENTION: Initial reports of States parties due in 2004: EL SALVADOR. OHCHR. 20 August 2007. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/436/47/PDF/G0743647.pdf?OpenElement, p. 8.
[3] International Detention Coalition (IDC). INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS. October 2014, p. 21 and 35. Norma Verónica Ardón. “Estudio Migratorio de el Salvador”. In Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.). Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República, November 2011. Dominicana. http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana. P. 195.
[4] Norma Verónica Ardón. “Estudio Migratorio de el Salvador”. In Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.). Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República, November 2011. Dominicana. http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana. P. 197.
[5] International Detention Coalition (IDC). INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS. October 2014, p. 5. Undisclosed source. Interview with Izabella Majcher (Global Detention Project). September 2013.
[6] Norma Verónica Ardón. “Estudio Migratorio de el Salvador”. In Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.). Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República, November 2011. Dominicana. http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana. P. 200
[7] Government of El Salvador. 2008. RESPUESTAS ESCRITAS DEL GOBIERNO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN RELACIÓN CON LA LISTA DE CUESTIONES (CMW/C/SLV/Q/1) RECIBIDAS POR EL COMITÉ PARA LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE TODOS LOS TRABAJADORES MIGRATORIOS Y DE SUS FAMILIARES EN RELACIÓN CON EL EXAMEN DEL INFORME INICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR (CMW/C/SLV/1). CMW/C/SLV/Q/1/Add.1. 24 October 2008. OHCHR. www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs/CMW-C-SLV-Q1-Add1_sp.doc, p. 11.
[8] Government of El Salvador. 2008. RESPUESTAS ESCRITAS DEL GOBIERNO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN RELACIÓN CON LA LISTA DE CUESTIONES (CMW/C/SLV/Q/1) RECIBIDAS POR EL COMITÉ PARA LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE TODOS LOS TRABAJADORES MIGRATORIOS Y DE SUS FAMILIARES EN RELACIÓN CON EL EXAMEN DEL INFORME INICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR (CMW/C/SLV/1). CMW/C/SLV/Q/1/Add.1. 24 October 2008. OHCHR. www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs/CMW-C-SLV-Q1-Add1_sp.doc, p. 11.
[9] Instituto de Estudios Políticos para América Latina y África and Médicos Sin Fronteras. Informacion comparada sobre detencion de solicitantes de asilo en Centroamerica y Caribe. 2007. http://www.gloobal.net/iepala/gloobal/fichas/ficha.php?entidad=Textos&id=4303&opcion=documento#ficha_gloobal.
[10] International Detention Coalition (IDC). INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS. October 2014, p. 23.
[11] International Detention Coalition (IDC). INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS. October 2014, p. 33 and 69.
[12] Norma Verónica Ardón. “Estudio Migratorio de el Salvador”. In Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.). Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República, November 2011. Dominicana. http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana. P. 199. See also: Michael Flynn. 2002. “Donde Esta la Frontera?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. July/August 2012. .
[13] Government of El Salvador. 2008. RESPUESTAS ESCRITAS DEL GOBIERNO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN RELACIÓN CON LA LISTA DE CUESTIONES (CMW/C/SLV/Q/1) RECIBIDAS POR EL COMITÉ PARA LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE TODOS LOS TRABAJADORES MIGRATORIOS Y DE SUS FAMILIARES EN RELACIÓN CON EL EXAMEN DEL INFORME INICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR (CMW/C/SLV/1). CMW/C/SLV/Q/1/Add.1. 24 October 2008. OHCHR. www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs/CMW-C-SLV-Q1-Add1_sp.doc, p. 9-10.
[14] Government of El Salvador. 2008. RESPUESTAS ESCRITAS DEL GOBIERNO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN RELACIÓN CON LA LISTA DE CUESTIONES (CMW/C/SLV/Q/1) RECIBIDAS POR EL COMITÉ PARA LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE TODOS LOS TRABAJADORES MIGRATORIOS Y DE SUS FAMILIARES EN RELACIÓN CON EL EXAMEN DEL INFORME INICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR (CMW/C/SLV/1). CMW/C/SLV/Q/1/Add.1. 24 October 2008. OHCHR. www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs/CMW-C-SLV-Q1-Add1_sp.doc, p. 9-10.
[15] Norma Verónica Ardón. “Estudio Migratorio de el Salvador”. In Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.). Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República, November 2011. Dominicana. http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana. P. 199.
[16] FESPAD. 2º Examen Periódico Universal de El Salvador: informes official y alternativos. December 2014. http://www.lwfcamerica.org/uploaded/content/article/1828638740.pdf, p. 20.
DETENTION, EXPULSION, AND INCARCERATION STATISTICS
DEMOGRAPHICS AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED STATISTICS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS
DOMESTIC LAWS AND POLICIES
INTERNATIONAL LAW
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Directorate General of Migration and Foreigners: http://www.migracion.gob.sv/
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UNHCR El Salvador: http://www.unhcr.org/el-salvador.html
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