As of 2019, Bhutan reportedly had no immigration detention centres and few cases of people being placed in detention for immigration-related reasons. On 23 March, it was made mandatory for all persons travelling into Bhutan to undergo a period of quarantine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There have been reports of people being […]
Last updated: February 2020
"31. The Working Group understands that there are no immigration detention facilities in the country and that the current practice is to seek the assistance of the police to hold those who have been found to be in breach of the Immigration Act, 2007. The lack of immigration detention facilities appears to have contributed to relatively few cases of immigration detention and, according to information received, such detention would generally not last longer than a day.
"32. The Working Group views the current practice as positive and recalls that deprivation of liberty must be a measure of last resort. It welcomes the restrained approach of the authorities towards the opening of new detention facilities and invites them to consider carefully any initiatives that would lead to opening of new types of places of deprivation of liberty."
--Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Report on Visit to Bhutan 14-24 January 2019.
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
Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
Criminal Penalties for Immigration-Related Violations
Grounds for Criminal Immigration-Related Incarceration / Maximum Length of Incarceration
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
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 3/19
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Treaty Body
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Recommendation Year
2017
Recommendation Excerpt
§ 42. "The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (see CRC/C/BTN/CO/2 para. 65) and urges the State party to:
(a) Enhance its efforts in negotiations to find peaceful and prompt solutions for either the return or resettlement of children living in refugee camps in Nepal, with particular attention to reunification with their families;
(b) Ensure the transparency of the procedure for the determination of the nationality of child refugees based on the right to a nationality and the right to leave and return to one ’ s country, with due consideration to the best interests of the child;
(c) Consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness."
(a) Enhance its efforts in negotiations to find peaceful and prompt solutions for either the return or resettlement of children living in refugee camps in Nepal, with particular attention to reunification with their families;
(b) Ensure the transparency of the procedure for the determination of the nationality of child refugees based on the right to a nationality and the right to leave and return to one ’ s country, with due consideration to the best interests of the child;
(c) Consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness."
Sources
Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Concluding Observations on the Combined Third to Fifth Periodic Reports of Bhutan," CRC/C/BTN/CO/3-5, 5 July 2017, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fBTN%2fCO%2f3-5&Lang=en
> UN Special Procedures
Relevant Recommendations or Observations by UN Special Procedures
Treaty Body
Working Group on arbitrary detention
Decision Date
2019
Case Details
31. The Working Group understands that there are no immigration detention facilities in the country and that the current practice is to seek the assistance of the police to hold those who have been found to be in breach of the Immigration Act, 2007. The lack of immigration detention facilities appears to have contributed to relatively few cases of immigration detention and, according to information received, such detention would generally not last longer than a day.
32. The Working Group views the current practice as positive and recalls that deprivation of liberty must be a measure of last resort. It welcomes the restrained approach of the authorities towards the opening of new detention facilities and invites them to consider carefully any initiatives that would lead to opening of new types of places of deprivation of liberty.
32. The Working Group views the current practice as positive and recalls that deprivation of liberty must be a measure of last resort. It welcomes the restrained approach of the authorities towards the opening of new detention facilities and invites them to consider carefully any initiatives that would lead to opening of new types of places of deprivation of liberty.
Sources
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, "Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Visit to Bhutan 14-24 January 2019," Human Rights Council, 31 July 2019.
> UN Universal Periodic Review
Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Recommendation Issued
No
Year Issued
2010
Sources
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Bhutan, A/HRC/13/11, 4 January 2010, https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/bhutan/session_6_-_november_2009/ahrc1311bhutane.pdf
Recommendation Issued
No
Year Issued
2014
Sources
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Bhutan, A/HRC/27/8, 1 July 2014, https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/bhutan/session_19_-_april_2014/a_hrc_27_8_e.pdf
Recommendation Issued
Yes
Year Issued
2019
Sources
Human Rights Council," Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Bhutan," A/HRC/42/8, 3 July 2019, https://uhri.ohchr.org/Document/File/936eb1f0-df41-4aa6-8f6c-3e03a55e104e/A8C72068-0BC5-444D-8436-9A81495E587E
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
As of 2019, Bhutan reportedly had no immigration detention centres and few cases of people being placed in detention for immigration-related reasons. On 23 March, it was made mandatory for all persons travelling into Bhutan to undergo a period of quarantine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There have been reports of people being sent to prison for “clandestine entry and false declaration of travel history” in order to evade mandatory quarantine. As of 1 September 2020, there had been 225 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Government Agencies
Department of Immigration Service Portal - https://immi.gov.bt/home/
Ministry of Home Affairs - https://www.moha.gov.bt/
International Organisations
UNHCR Office in Bhutan - https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/bhutan
IOM Office in Bhutan - https://www.iom.int/country-offices
OHCHR Office in Bhutan - https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/bhutan
NGO & Research Institutions
Ombudsman officed in Bhutan - https://www.bbs.bt/72456/
Amnesty International - https://www.amnesty.org
Human Rights Watch office in Bhutan - https://www.hrw.org/asia/bhutan
