Sri Lanka

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

504

2022

Asylum Applications

221

2022

International Migrants

40,254

2020

Population

21,900,000

2023

Overview

Types of facilities used for migration-related detention
Administrative Ad Hoc Criminal Unknown

Rohingya Refugees Detained in Sri Lanka 

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 […]

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Sri Lankan Navy, “Navy Comes to the Aid of 104 Distressed Myanmar Nationals in Sri Lanka’s Waters,” 18 December 2022, https://news.navy.lk/oparation-news/2022/12/18/202212181700/

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 […]

Read More…

A Health Worker Taking a Blood Sample to Test for COVID-19 Antibodies in Colombo, (M. Srinivasan,
Last updated:

DETENTION STATISTICS

Total Migration Detainees: Flow + Stock (year)
Not Available
2019

DETAINEE DATA

Total Number of Children Placed in Immigration Detention (Year)
1
2017
1
2016
4
2014

DETENTION CAPACITY

ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

PRISON DATA

Criminal Prison Population (Year)
16,990
2017
22,414
2013
26,984
2010
24,255
2007
20,661
2004
17,216
2001
13,999
1998
11,447
1995
9,162
1992
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
1.4
2016
1.1
2013
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
78
2017
105
2013
129
2010
120
2007
105
2004
91
2001
76
1998
63
1995
52
1992

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
21,900,000
2023
21,400,000
2020
20,715,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
40,254
2020
40,018
2019
38,700
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
0.19
2020
0.2
2016
Refugees (Year)
504
2022
907
2021
1,008
2020
1,041
2019
800
2018
822
2017
597
2016
784
2015
848
2015
511
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.03
2016
0.02
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
221
2022
299
2019
345
2016
1,520
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
75.7
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
36
2022
0
2016
0
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
3,794
2014
Remittances to the Country
7,033
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
488.2
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
73 (High)
2015

MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2016
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
1949

GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017
Common law
2017
Customary law
2017

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Detention-Related Legislation
Immigrants and Emigrants Act (1949)
1949

GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
Detention to prevent unauthorised entry at the border
1949
Detention to establish/verify identity and nationality
1949
Non-Immigration-Status-Related Grounds in Immigration Legislation
Detention on health-related grounds
2016
Criminal Penalties for Immigration-Related Violations
Yes (Yes)
1949
Grounds for Criminal Immigration-Related Incarceration / Maximum Length of Incarceration
Unauthorized entry (1826)
1949
Has the Country Decriminalised Immigration-Related Violations?
No
1949

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

International Monitoring Bodies that Carry Out Detention Monitoring Visits
2017

TRANSPARENCY

READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS

Bilateral/Multilateral Readmission Agreements
EU (2005)
2017

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
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
2006
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1982
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1980
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1980
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1981
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1994
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1991
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
1996
2017
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2016
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2015
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 12/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 1997
1997
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2002
2002
CAT, declaration under article 22 of the Convention 1994
1994
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
3/8
2017
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

Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Working Group on arbitrary detention 2017
2017
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
Relevant Recommendations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2008
2017
No 2012
2017

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

DETENTION COSTS

OUTSOURCING

FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS