In March, Uruguay President Luis Lacalle Pou moved to impose a series of COVID-related restrictions, including closing non-essential shops and closing its border with Brazil. The moves–which notably did not include lock-down–came after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Montevideo on 13 March 2020. As of 30 November 2020, Uruguay had reported less than […]
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Last updated: July 2024
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?
Detention-Related Legislation
GROUNDS FOR DETENTION
Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
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
OP ICESCR, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
2013
2018
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2009
2009
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2005
2005
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2005
2005
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2005
2005
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2001
2001
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1986
1986
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 18/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
ICESCR, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2008
2013
2013
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, declaration under article 31
2009
2009
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999
2001
2001
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(c) Ensure that all migrants have access to justice and effective remedies in
cases of labour exploitation, without fear of arrest, detention or deportation;
2023
2023
2023
Human Rights Committee
(c) Intensify its efforts to strengthen legislation, including the visa policy, and
regulations protecting migrant workers against abuse and exploitation, facilitate access
to effective legal remedies, with interpreting services, and ensure that workers can
access those remedies without fear of reprisal, detention or deportation...
43. Bearing in mind the Committee’s previous recommendations,9 the State party
should establish a statutory time limit on the duration of immigration detention and
ensure that detention is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
possible period of time, and increase the use of alternatives to detention, particularly
for children, pregnant women and families with children, that are respectful of human
rights, including the right to privacy, instead of surveillance-based technological
alternatives.
2022
2022
2022
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 64. "In the light of its general comment No. 6 (2005) on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, the Committee recommends that the State party introduce comprehensive legislation ensuring assistance to and the protection of unaccompanied migrant children. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party establish a specific and permanent national authority to oversee the conditions of unaccompanied migrant children, identify their needs and address problems of the current system, and to develop operational guidelines on unaccompanied migrant children, including guidelines on their reception and identification, on needs assessment and on a protection strategy. "
2015
2015
Committee on Migrant Workers
§26 The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts to improve
prison conditions, taking particular account of the situation of migrant workers,
ensure that this group does not suffer overcrowding, and guarantee that migrant
workers deprived of their liberty are informed of their rights to appropriate legal and
consular assistance.
2014
2014
> 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
2009
2009
2015
> UN Universal Periodic Review
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
APACHR, Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1995
1995
CBDP, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para)
1996
1996
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
In March, Uruguay President Luis Lacalle Pou moved to impose a series of COVID-related restrictions, including closing non-essential shops and closing its border with Brazil. The moves--which notably did not include lock-down--came after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Montevideo on 13 March 2020. As of 30 November 2020, Uruguay had reported less than 6,000 COVID cases and 76 deaths related to the disease. Neighbouring Argentina also reacted swiftly but with stricter compulsory lockdown measures (see 3 April Argentina update on this platform); nevertheless, it has experienced dramatically more cases (approximately 1.4 million as of this writing).
In June, Uruguayan authorities expressed concern over the arrival of a large number of Cubans, some of whom sought to enter the country as refugees. According to Diario de Cuba, the Cuban nationals arrived in Uruguay through the Rivera department on the border with Brazil, where they expressed their intention to apply for asylum.
As of June 2020, Uruguay hosted 13,742 asylum seekers and 498 refugees under UNHCR’s mandate as well as 14,236 Venezuelans “displaced abroad.” According to the UNHCR, it employs the phrase Venezuelans “displaced abroad” to refer to people of Venezuelan origin who are likely to be in need of international protection under the criteria contained in the Cartagena Declaration, but who have not applied for asylum in the country in which they are present. As part of its COVID-19 response, UNHCR reports that it has provided humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants suffering from the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic. UNHCR has provided accommodation, food, clothing, and cash assistance in major urban centres and border areas.
Uruguayan legislation does not provide for the detention of people in an irregular migratory situation. Like Argentina’s immigration legislation, Article 1 of Uruguay’s Migration Act, No. 18250 (Ley de Migraciones, N°18250), along with its Regulatory Decree n°394/009 of 2009, recognise the inalienable right of migrants and their relatives to migrate irrespective of their migration status. Furthermore, Article 9 provides that an irregular immigration status does not preclude a person from having access to justice and health care and that authorities must provide information on regularisation avenues. The legislation (Article 51) also provides for expulsion proceedings in certain situations. As per Article 52, where a person has entered irregularly or stayed in the country following the expiration of their permit, the Uruguayan immigration authority (Dirección Nacional de Migración), taking into account the specific circumstances of the case, is to advise the person that they must regularise their immigration status within a certain period of time in order to avoid expulsion. In its concluding observations in 2014, the Committee on Migrant Workers noted “with particular interest that the Act recognises: … (c) That no case involving a migrant in an irregular situation for administrative reasons warrants detention.”
In the country’s prisons, a sanitary protocol was put in place on 16 March whereby detainees presenting any symptoms are placed in quarantine. Hygienic products and sodium hypochlorite were distributed to the prisoners and the protocol envisages the fumigation of communal spaces and vehicles used for the transfer of detainees. On 13 April, 13 prisoners suffering from COVID-19 symptoms were tested. 8 tested negative and the rest were placed in isolation awaiting results.
Government Agencies
National Migration Directorate & Ministry Of interior - https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-interior/direccion-nacional-migracion
Ombudsman office - https://www.gub.uy/institucion-nacional-derechos-humanos-uruguay/
International Organisations
UNHCR Country Office - https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/uruguay
IOM Office Office - https://lac.iom.int/en/uruguay
ILO Country Office - https://www.ilo.org/regions-and-countries/latin-america-and-caribbean/uruguay
NGO & Research Institutions
Amnesty Country Office - https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/uruguay/
Human Rights Watch Country Office - https://www.hrw.org/americas/uruguay
Caritas - https://www.caritas.org/where-caritas-work/latin-america/uruguay/
