Turkmenistan

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

14

2022

International Migrants

194,920

2020

Population

6,500,000

2023

International Migrants as % of Population

3.23%

2020

Overview

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

15 January 2021 – Turkmenistan

Despite soaring infection rates in many parts of the world, authorities in Turkmenistan continue to deny the existence of Coronavirus within the country and have failed to promote preventive measures such as social distancing. At the end of December, the country extended the suspension of international flights, as well as domestic rail and bus services, […]

Read More…

RFE/RL, “Deadly Prison Outbreak Belies Turkmenistan's 'Coronavirus-Free' Claim,” 16 October 2020, https://www.rferl.org/a/deadly-prison-outbreak-belies-turkmenistan-s-coronavirus-free-claim/30897206.html
Last updated:

DETENTION STATISTICS

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

DETAINEE DATA

Total Number of Children Placed in Immigration Detention (Year)
0
2017

DETENTION CAPACITY

ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

PRISON DATA

Criminal Prison Population (Year)
30,568
2013
10,953
2006
13,462
2005
22,000
2000
18,000
1997
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
0.7
2006
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
583
2013
224
2006
280
2005
489
2000
400
1997

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
6,500,000
2023
6,000,000
2020
5,374,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
194,920
2020
195,127
2019
196,400
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
3.23
2020
3.7
2015
Refugees (Year)
14
2022
16
2021
20
2020
21
2019
22
2018
23
2017
26
2016
27
2015
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.01
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
0
2022
Stateless Persons (Year)
4,527
2022
4,714
2018
3,851
2017
5,744
2016
7,144
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
9,031
2015
Remittances to the Country
30
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
34.2
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
109 (Medium)
2015

MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2017
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
1993

GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Detention-Related Legislation
Law of Turkmenistan on the Legal Status of Aliens in Turkmenistan (1993) 1995
1993
Additional Legislation
Law of Turkmenistan on Refugees (2017)
2017

GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION

Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
Detention to effect removal
1993

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
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2008
2017
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1996
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1994
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1997
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1997
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1997
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1999
2017
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2005
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2005
2017
CRSSP, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
2011
2017
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1998
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1993
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 2009
2009
CRPD, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2010
2010
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
3/7
2017
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee against Torture §23 The State party should take the necessary measures: [...] ( c ) To guarantee asylum-seekers, including those that may face detention, access to independent, qualified and free legal advice and representation, in order to ensure that the protection needs of refugees and other persons in need of international protection are duly recognized and refoulement is prevented; [...] ( e ) To establish a system for collecting and sharing statistical and other information on asylum-seekers, including those in detention, whose applications are pending with the authorities , as well as on persons extradited, expelled or returned by the State party and the countries to which they have been sent; and to provide the Committee with the relevant data. 2011
2011
Committee against Torture 34. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt the following measures in order to ensure that the prohibition against refoulement is respected in practice: […]; (b) Ensure that asylum seekers, including detainees, have access to independent, qualified and free legal advice and representation, that their protection needs are duly recognized and that refoulement is prevented; (c) Establish a system for collecting and providing the following data to the Committee and other relevant observers, for the period from 2012 to the present: […]; (iii) The number of foreigners detained in detention facilities; […] 2017
2017

NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Relevant Recommendations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2013
2017
No 2009
2017

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

DETENTION COSTS

OUTSOURCING

FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS