Jamaica

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

31

2023

Asylum Applications

5

2019

International Migrants

26,300

2020

Population

2,825,569

2023

Overview

Jamaica has experienced considerable emigration in recent decades, in particular to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The country does not have an official asylum reception system, but it has hosted a small refugee population, including several people from Venezuela. The majority of its refugees and asylum seekers are long-staying Haitians, many of whom have benefited from state-sponsored social assistance. A small percentage of Jamaica’s prison population are non-citizens, many of whom are foreigners arrested on drug charges. Although there is little information about immigration detention practices in Jamaica, observers have expressed concerns about poor detention conditions in the country.

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

Jamaica: Covid-19 and Detention

Jamaica successfully avoided a large COVID-19 outbreak during the initial months of the pandemic. However, since late August 2020, the numbers of confirmed infections have surged, increasing the total number of cases to nearly 8,000 by October 2020. The government announced emergency measures in September, including curfews and limits to the size of public gatherings. […]

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Minister Matthew Samuda is Shown the Cafeteria of the New Broughton Sunset Rehabilitation Adult Correctional Centre by Superintendent A., (Ian Allen,
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DETENTION STATISTICS

Migration Detainee Entries
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)
3,866
2016
4,201
2013
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
1.1
2016
1.5
2013
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
138
2016
152
2013

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
2,825,569
2023
3,000,000
2020
2,793,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
26,300
2020
23,468
2019
23,200
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
0.87
2020
0.8
2015
Refugees (Year)
31
2023
31
2021
27
2020
0
2019
15
2018
8
2016
12
2015
22
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.01
2016
Asylum Applications (Year)
0
2023
5
2019
17
2016
1
2013
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)
5,104
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
2,263
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
92.3
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
99 (High)
2015

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2023
Yes
2017
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2023
Yes
1945
Legal Tradition(s)
Common law
2017

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
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2008
2008
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2007
2007
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2003
2003
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2003
2003
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1991
1991
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1984
1984
PCRSR, Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1980
1980
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1976
1976
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1975
1975
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1975
1975
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1971
1971
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1964
1964
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 12/19
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
0/7
0/7
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Situation of non-citizens, including migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons 25...While noting the information provided by the delegation of the State party that the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act and the Aliens Act are currently under review, the Committee shares the concerns expressed by the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families10 that these acts, and the Deportation (Commonwealth Citizens) Act, criminalize irregular immigration (art. 5). 26...The Committee recommends that the State party adopt all measures necessary to decriminalize irregular immigration, including by repealing or amending the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act, the Aliens Act, and the Deportation (Commonwealth Citizens) Act. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to the recommendation made on this matter by the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families in 2017.11 2022
2022
2022
Committee on Migrant Workers § 37. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that its national laws, policies and practices adequately respect the right to liberty and the prohibition of arbitrary detention of migrant workers and members of their families, and in particular that it: (a) Amend the Aliens Act to include, as a priority response to irregular migration, alternatives to detention for migration-related administrative infractions and measures to ensure that detention is used only as an exceptional measure of last resort, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2013) on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families; (b) Ensure due process in all detention procedures within the State party’s jurisdiction, including in international waters; (c) Ensure that family members and children are not detained on the basis of their immigration status or, in the case of children, their parents’ status and adopt alternatives to detention that allow children to remain with family members and/or guardians; (d) Decriminalize irregular migration and ensure that migrant workers and members of their families have access to legal aid, effective remedies, justice and consular services, and that the guarantees enshrined in the Convention are upheld, in full compliance with articles 16 and 17 of the Convention; (e) Provide information on the number of migrant workers arrested, detained and expelled for immigration-related infractions, the reasons for their detention and expulsion and their detention conditions, including the length of detention. 2017
2017
2017

> UN Special Procedures

Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2010
2010
2015

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2011
2017
Yes 2015
No 2020

> Global Compact for Migration (GCM)

GCM Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

> Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)

GCR Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
CBDP, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para) 2005
2005
ACHR, American Convention on Human Rights 1978
1978

HEALTH CARE PROVISION

HEALTH IMPACTS

COVID-19

Country Updates
Jamaica successfully avoided a large COVID-19 outbreak during the initial months of the pandemic. However, since late August 2020, the numbers of confirmed infections have surged, increasing the total number of cases to nearly 8,000 by October 2020. The government announced emergency measures in September, including curfews and limits to the size of public gatherings. There does not appear to have been any particular measures taken with respect to migrants or asylum seekers in Jamaica. Although Jamaica is a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, it does not have corresponding asylum legislation and there are no official mechanisms in place to assist in the identification of asylum seekers. In 2019, Jamaica only received 5 applications for international protection, according to UNHCR. And although the refugee agency reported that there were no refugees in Jamaica that year, there were 121 displaced Venezuelans in the country. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) reported that in 2019, there were 23,468 international migrants in Jamaica. The government has been slow to implement protective measures in prisons. As of 31 August, the government was still refusing to release low-risk detainees in high-density prisons to curb the virus’ spread. In addition, authorities do not make it compulsory for people within penal institutions to wear face masks. The director of the prisoner rights group “Stand Up For Jamaica” expressed concern that scores of inmates may be vulnerable to the spread of the virus, citing the country’s long-standing problem of overcrowding in prisons. Gullotta has called for the government to release low-risk prisoners, especially juvenile offenders who have not seen their relatives in months and are prone to psychological problems. Gullotta said that her “major concern was, in a place like prisons, where people are packed up and in a permanently overcrowded environment, the fact that people can enter means a huge risk for all of them.” The government’s decision to not impose the wearing of face masks within penal institutions was defended by Minister Matthew Samuda who said that “mask wearing is only imposed on all those who work in the facilities because it’s the people who work within the facilities who could have brought it in.” Yet, on 31 August, four detainees tested positive at the Horizon penitentiary in Kingston. The detainees were placed in isolation and the facility suspended the admission of any new detainees. Two other detainees then tested positive for the virus on 22 September at the Tower Street prison, another Kingston prison. Although the GDP has been unable to find any information about protections provided to immigration detainees in Jamaica, there are long-standing concerns that the country does not provide appropriate conditions of detention for people in immigration procedures. In 2017, the UN Committee on Migrant workers issued a series of recommendations in its “concluding observations” during the periodic review of Jamaica. The committee stated: “The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that its national laws, policies and practices adequately respect the right to liberty and the prohibition of arbitrary detention of migrant workers and members of their families, and in particular that it: (a) Amend the Aliens Act to include, as a priority response to irregular migration, alternatives to detention for migration-related administrative infractions and measures to ensure that detention is used only as an exceptional measure of last resort, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2013) on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families; (b) Ensure due process in all detention procedures within the State party’s jurisdiction, including in international waters; (c) Ensure that family members and children are not detained on the basis of their immigration status or, in the case of children, their parents’ status and adopt alternatives to detention that allow children to remain with family members and/or guardians; (d) Decriminalize irregular migration and ensure that migrant workers and members of their families have access to legal aid, effective remedies, justice and consular services, and that the guarantees enshrined in the Convention are upheld, in full compliance with articles 16 and 17 of the Convention; (e) Provide information on the number of migrant workers arrested, detained and expelled for immigration-related infractions, the reasons for their detention and expulsion and their detention conditions, including the length of detention.”
Did the country release immigration detainees as a result of the pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the country use legal "alternatives to detention" as part of pandemic detention releases?
Unknown
2022
Did the country Temporarily Cease or Restrict Issuing Detention Orders?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Adopt These Pandemic-Related Measures for People in Immigration Detention?
Unknown (Unknown) Unknown Unknown Unknown
2022
Did the Country Lock-Down Previously "Open" Reception Facilities, Shelters, Refugee Camps, or Other Forms of Accommodation for Migrant Workers or Other Non-Citizens?
Unknown
2022
Were cases of COVID-19 reported in immigration detention facilities or any other places used for immigration detention purposes?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Cease or Restrict Deportations/Removals During any Period After the Onset of the Pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Release People from Criminal Prisons During the Pandemic?
No
2022
Did Officials Blame Migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Refugees for the Spread of COVID-19?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Restrict Access to Asylum Procedures?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Commence a National Vaccination Campaign?
Yes
2022
Were Populations of Concern Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
Unknown (Unknown) Unknown Unknown Unknown
2022