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, […]
Last updated: July 2024
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?
Detention-Related Legislation
GROUNDS FOR DETENTION
Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
LENGTH OF DETENTION
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
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1999
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2005
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
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee against Torture
42. The State party should ensure that no person is expelled, returned or extradited to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture. In particular, the State party should:
(ii) The number of foreigners who have been expelled, returned or otherwise refused entry at the border and to which countries;
(iii) The number of foreigners detained in detention facilities;
2025
2025
2025
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
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
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, until at least 31 January 2021. Land borders with Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are due to remain closed until further notice. The only persons permitted to enter the country are Turkmen nationals, diplomats, permanent residents, and workers in critical industries and key infrastructure--all of whom are required to quarantine for 14 days in a state-run facility upon entry. Details of this facility, and conditions within it, remain scarce.
Authorities regularly suppress and retaliate against independent media, which makes it difficult to develop a reliable picture of the situation in the country. However, reports from European-based news outlets with sources inside the country have maintained that prisons and schools have witnessed outbreaks, and that hospitals have become increasingly overcrowded with patients suffering “pneumonia-like” symptoms. In October, for example, RFE/RL reported that the DZ-K/8 Women’s Correctional Facility in Dashoguz had witnessed a “big” outbreak, in which at least three inmates had died. Reportedly, authorities established a quarantine block at the centre housing more than 200 inmates--some of whom were “in grave condition.”
Turkmenistan does not experience significant migratory pressure, and it is unclear whether any non-nationals are confined in detention facilities. Although national law provides for granting refugee status and asylum, no-one has been granted refugee status since 2009, when the Turkmen government took over Refugee Status Determination from UNHCR. No new asylum seekers have been registered since 2005.
The government routinely denies freedom of movement to its citizens. According to Turkmen law, people are to be banned from leaving “if their exit contravenes the interests of the national security of Turkmenistan.” Migration officials reportedly stop non-approved travellers at the airport to prevent them from departing. According to the U.S State Department’s 2020 Trafficking in Persons report, these policies make Turkmen nationals who wish to leave the country unofficially vulnerable to traffickers.
Government Agencies
Ministry of foreign Affairs - https://www.mfa.gov.tm/en
State Immigration service - https://migration.gov.tm/
Commissioner for Human Right & Ombudsman - https://ombudsman.gov.tm/
International Organisations
UNHCR Country Office - https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/turkmenistan
IOM Country Page - https://turkmenistan.iom.int/
ILO Country Page - https://www.ilo.org/regions-and-countries/europe-and-central-asia/turkmenistan
NGO & Research Institutions
Amnesty Country Page - https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/eastern-europe-and-central-asia/turkmenistan/
Human Rights Watch - https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/turkmenistan
