Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Carribean with a population of around 110,000 people. Following confirmation of COVID-19 cases in March 2020, the country implemented international travel restrictions including requiring arriving passengers from high-risk countries to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival and quarantine at a government-approved facility. […]
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DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
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
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2010
2010
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2010
2010
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2010
2010
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2001
2001
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 14/19
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 58. "The Committee recommends that the State party adopt national legislation and procedures on asylum and refugee status in line with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which the State party ratified."
2017
2017
Committee on Migrant Workers
21. The Committee recommends that the State party establish a national human rights institution, in compliance with the Paris Principles, that, inter alia, effectively promotes and protects the rights of migrant workers and members of their families under the Convention, with a mandate to investigate all issues concerning the human rights of migrant workers and members of their families, regardless of status and to conduct unannounced visits to all places where migrant workers and members of their families may be deprived of their liberty, including detention centres and shelters.
32.The Committee is concerned about the lack of information regarding due process guarantees for migrant workers and members of their families in criminal and administrative proceedings, including detention and expulsion. It is also concerned that the Immigration (Restriction) Act, which was amended in 2017, criminalizes irregular entry into the State party.
33. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that in administrative and judicial proceedings, including detention and expulsion proceedings, migrant workers and members of their families, particularly those in an irregular situation, are guaranteed due process on an equal basis with nationals of the State party before the courts and tribunals;
(...)
2018
2018
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Carribean with a population of around 110,000 people. Following confirmation of COVID-19 cases in March 2020, the country implemented international travel restrictions including requiring arriving passengers from high-risk countries to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival and quarantine at a government-approved facility. In January 2021, the country’s prime minister rejected calls for imposing curfew restrictions, a state of emergency, or any lockdown measures in response to the pandemic. As of 12 April 2021, the country had recorded 1,792 cases of COVID-19 and 10 related deaths.
On 9 April 2021, the La Soufrière volcano erupted, forcing more than 16,000 people to evacuate their homes.
The GDP has been unable to establish the extent to which detention facilities are used in Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines as part of immigration enforcement procedures or to obtain details on COVID-19 related measures taken to safeguard people in immigration or criminal custody, or those in international protection situations.
According to UNHCR, in 2019 and in 2020, there were no refugees or asylum seekers in the country, but there were 38 displaced Venezuelan nationals. The country has ratified several relevant human rights treaties, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. However, at the time of this report, the country had yet to submit its first state report to many treaty bodies, including the Committee on Migrant Workers.
In its concluding observations in 2018, the Committee on Migrant Workers said it was concerned over “the lack of information regarding due process guarantees for migrant workers (...) in criminal and administrative proceedings, including detention and expulsion. It is also concerned that the Immigration (Restriction) Act, which was amended in 2017, criminalises irregular entry into the State party.” The committee recommended that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines “(a) Ensure that in administrative and judicial proceedings, including detention and expulsion proceedings, migrant workers and members of their families, particularly those in an irregular situation, are guaranteed due process on an equal basis with nationals of the State party before the courts and tribunals; (b) Decriminalise irregular entry and ensure that the minimum guarantees enshrined in the Convention are assured with regard to administrative and judicial procedures against migrant workers and members of their families, in line with Articles 16 and 17 of the Convention.”
The country received numerous relevant recommendations during its review for the second cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2016, including: “harmonise its national legislation with international human rights standards (Morocco) (para. 80.29)” and “take immediate steps to bring conditions at all detention facilities, including Her Majesty’s Prison and Fort Charlotte Prison, into line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Canada) (para. 80.87).” Additionally, UNHCR recommended that the country “(b) Take measures to ensure the early identification of persons in need of international protection and facilitate their access to asylum procedures, including persons in detention, through further training and sensitisation of immigration officers; (c) seek alternatives to detention of asylum-seekers.”
As of 29 May 2020, there had been no reported COVID-19 cases at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ prisons. On 20 May 2020, the Carribean Community (CARICOM) donated basic sanitation supplies to the country’s prison system to help minimise the risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19 in prisons. These products included infrared thermometers, cleaning products and hand sanitisers.
