In December, Sri Lankan authorities were praised for their quick and successful rescue of 104 Rohingya refugees, stranded at sea when their boat encountered mechanical difficulties. The GDP is concerned to learn, however, that soon after they were brought to dry land, the refugees were placed in two immigration detention facilities in Colombo–one of which […]
03 October 2020 – Sri Lanka
As of 28 September, Sri Lanka, with a population of 21.5 million, had detected only 3,360 cases of COVID-19. Although the country has been lauded for its containment of the virus, members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority have allegedly become stigmatised as carriers of the virus. There is also little information available concerning the impact […]
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DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
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
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2016
2018
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2017
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1994
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
1996
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 12/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee against Torture
§ 44. The State party should: […] (c) Ensure that persons in need of international protection are not detained or that detention is used only as a measure of last resort, after alternatives have been duly examined and exhausted, and for the shortest possible time, in detention centres that are suitable for their purpose and whose regime is different from that of penal institutions;
(d) Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto.
2017
2017
Committee on Migrant Workers
§ 33. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that administrative detention is used as a measure of last resort only and that non-custodial alternatives are promoted, 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) Expeditiously and completely cease the detention of children on the basis of their or their parents’ immigration status, and allow children to remain with family members and/or guardians in non-custodial, community-based contexts while their immigration status is being resolved, in accordance with their best interests and with their rights to liberty and family life;
(c) Refrain from detaining migrants with specific needs, particularly women, children, the elderly and persons with physical or mental disabilities, and where detention of migrants in these categories does take place, ensure that there is a specific policy in place for their detention and safe, gender-responsive and adequate detention facilities, including access to sexual and reproductive health care;
(d) 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;
§ 35. The Committee recommends that the State party: […] (e) Ensure that diplomatic missions in States of employment have specific policies that address prevention of and response to arbitrary detention and sexual and gender-based violence, including having female officers to deal with cases of sexual abuse, a local 24/7 hotline free of charge, a roster of competent local lawyers able to help the State party’s migrant workers with legal issues, and that they conduct frequent visits to migrant detention centres; […],
§59. The Committee recommends that the State party: […], (e) Take measures to properly identify victims of trafficking and to protect them from prosecution, detention or punishment for activities in which they were involved as a direct consequence of their situation as trafficked persons;
2016
2016
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Relevant Recommendations by UN Special Procedures
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Working Group on arbitrary detention
91 (b) Enact legislation that would specify that any detention in the course of migration proceedings must be exceptional, ordered by a judicial authority only in cases when specifically prescribed by law and assessed as necessary and proportionate in individual cases; [...]
(d) Ensure that alternatives to detention in the context of migration, which
are accessible and realistic, are deployed;
(e) Cease holding migrants in Mirihana immigration detention facility
immediately as it is entirely inappropriate for such purposes.
2018
2018
