On 5 January, journalist Shiafur Rahman reported the first death at the controversial Rohingya refugee centre on Bangladesh’s Bhasan Char island in the Indian Ocean. Rahman also reported the introduction of new restrictions of movement for those at the centre, which were supposedly introduced after an escape attempt. Refugees reportedly now require permission to go […]
07 December 2020 – Bangladesh
Despite repeated calls from human rights groups for Bangladeshi authorities to remove more than 300 refugees from the island of Bhasan Char (see 10 July Bangladesh update on this platform), The Guardian reports that in early December the country began moving even more Rohingya families from camps near the Myanmar border to the controversial refugee […]
24 September 2020 – Bangladesh
A controversial refugee settlement set up by the Bangladesh government on the island of Bhasan Char has been under intense scrutiny since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic because of claims by government officials that refugees confined to the site are being kept there as a Covid-19 quarantine measure. This scrutiny has intensified after women […]
10 July 2020 – Bangladesh
On 9 July 2020, Human Rights Watch urged Bangladeshi authorities to immediately move more than 300 Rohingya refugees, including 33 children, from the silt island of Bhasan Char to the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps to join their families. Despite inviting UNHCR and other UN agencies to Bhasan Char island, the Bangladesh government is yet to […]
27 April 2020 – Bangladesh
More than 500 people – including children – have been stranded on two fishing trawlers in the Bay of Bengal, after Bangladesh refused to allow the refugees to come ashore. Last week, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister announced that the boats would not be allowed to dock, adding that in light of the Covid-19 pandemic the country […]
03 April 2020 – Bangladesh
There are critical concerns about the risk of infection spreading uncontrollably in the overcrowded camps and other facilities used to house the some one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Human rights groups issued a joint letter on 1 April commending the government “for working closely with the humanitarian community on COVID-19 preparedness and response in […]
Last updated:
DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
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
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
2011
2011
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1998
1998
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 10/19
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Migrant Workers
§34. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Take the steps necessary to 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) 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.
2017
2017
2018
Committee on Migrant Workers
36. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Make the proactive protection of migrant workers, including those in an irregular situation and those working in isolated conditions, a priority concern for its diplomatic missions in destination States;
(b) Strengthen the welfare services and consular assistance provided to the State party’s migrant workers in destination States, including psychological counselling, legal counselling and shelters for migrants in distress, and ensure that such services and assistance are gender-responsive;
(c) Ensure that diplomatic missions are adequately staffed and that staff are properly trained on a human rights-based approach to dealing with all issues faced by migrant workers;
(d) Ensure that diplomatic missions in States of employment have specific policies on the prevention of and responses to arbitrary detention and sexual and gender-based violence, including having female officers to deal with cases of sexual abuse, a free, hotline that operates around the clock, a roster of competent local lawyers able to help the State party’s migrant workers with legal issues and to conduct frequent visits to migrant detention centres.
2017
2017
2018
Committee on Migrant Workers
54. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Facilitate the repatriation of all migrant workers in need, including those who have escaped from abusive employers or have ended up in an irregular situation, in detention or elsewhere;
(b) Enhance the gender-responsive services provided for the reintegration of returned migrant workers, including psychosocial services and livelihood opportunities, particularly providing response services for victims of sexual and gender-based violence and those who have experienced abuse during the migration process;
(c) Conduct awareness-raising programmes to highlight the contribution of women migrant workers and combat the stigmatization of returning women migrant workers.
2017
2017
2018
Committee against Torture
§ 14: The State party should: (a) Continue to respect the principle of non-refoulement with respect to all Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on its territory;
(b) Adopt a comprehensive law on asylum that is consistent with international human rights standards and norms and is in accordance with article 3 of the Convention;
(c) Establish an individualized procedure through which any individual who raises concerns that he or she faces a real, personal risk of torture and ill-treatment if returned by the State party to another country can seek to remain in Bangladesh on the grounds that returning them would violate the country’s non-refoulement obligation under the Convention;
(d) Provide training to all relevant officials in the State party on the principle of non-refoulement;
(e) Ensure that the authorities put in place measures to identify and provide redress to all survivors of torture and ill-treatment, including non-nationals, and provide them with adequate access to health-care and psychological services;
(f) Consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;
(g) Cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court concerning the commission of crimes involving torture against the Rohingya within its jurisdiction.
2019
2019
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 71. "In line with its general comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Provide birth registration and access to basic rights, such as to health and education, for all undocumented Rohingya children and their families on the State party’s territory, irrespective of their legal status;
(b) Release asylum-seeking and refugee children held in detention centres and enable them to access the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
(c) Ensure that unaccompanied, separated, refugee and asylum-seeking children are not detained because of illegal entry or stay in the State party;
(d) Grant unaccompanied, separated, refugee and asylum-seeking children the right to seek asylum and to stay in the State party until the completion of asylum procedures;
(e) Consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol."
2015
2015
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
DETENTION COSTS
OUTSOURCING
FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS
GOVERNMENT BODIES
Ministry of Home Affairs https://mha.gov.bd/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://mofa.gov.bd/
Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief https://modmr.gov.bd/
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner http://rrrc.gov.bd/
National Human Rights Commission http://www.nhrc.org.bd/
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
ActionAid Bangladesh https://www.actionaid.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/bangladesh
Caritas Bangladesh https://caritasbd.org/
IOM Bangladesh https://bangladesh.iom.int/
International Rescue Committee https://www.rescue.org/country/bangladesh
OCHA Humanitarian Response https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/bangladesh
UNHCR Bangladesh https://www.unhcr.org/bangladesh.html
NGOs
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) http://www.blast.org.bd/
Cox’s Bazar CSO-NGO Forum http://www.cxb-cso-ngo.org/
Cox’s Bazar Environment, Human Rights and Development Forum (CEHRDF) https://cehrdf.wordpress.com/
Odhikar http://odhikar.org/
RISDA Bangladesh https://risda.org.bd/
MEDIA
Dhaka Tribune https://www.dhakatribune.com/
The Daily Star https://www.thedailystar.net/
