One of the smallest countries in Europe, Liechtenstein had recorded 2,454 cases of COVID-19 as of 26 January 2021. Following confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in the country on 3 March 2020, the government imposed various restrictive measures, including a ban on all public and private events, a prohibition for more than five people […]
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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
LENGTH OF DETENTION
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
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2008
2008
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2008
2008
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2006
2006
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1990
1990
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 14/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
1998
1998
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999
2001
2001
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee against Torture
Asylum-seekers
27.While noting the support provided by the State party to unaccompanied minors, and that the State party does not detain minors in practice, the Committee is concerned that article 60 (2) of the Foreigners Act does not prohibit the detention of minors over the age of 15, and that immigration detainees are not separated from other detainees held on remand in Vaduz national prison (arts. 2, 3 and 16).
28. The Committee recommends that the State party review its national legislation in order to continue providing for the protection of children in situations of migration, ensure that children and families with children are not detained solely because of their immigration status and seek alternative accommodation for such individuals. It should also continue its efforts to provide appropriate accommodation for unaccompanied and separated children in situations of migration, develop a multidisciplinary system of care based on the best interests of such children and individualized needs assessments, and provide sufficient protection safeguards. Furthermore, the State party should enhance its efforts to ensure the separation of detainees in Vaduz national prison .
2024
2024
2024
Human Rights Committee
39. The Committee urges the State party, with immediate effect:
(a) To revise its legislation in order to prohibit the detention on immigration
grounds of all children below the age of 18. The obligation not to deprive the child of
liberty should extend to the child’s parents and requires that the authorities opt for
non-custodial solutions for the whole family;
(b) To ensure that all alternatives to the detention of children be associated
with strict safeguards and subject to effective external and independent monitoring;
(c) To guarantee sufficient human, technical and financial resources,
throughout its jurisdiction, for specialist and child-specific support, protection, legal
representation, social assistance and access to education for unaccompanied migrant
children and build the capacities of law enforcement officials;
(d) To ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration
in all decisions and agreements in relation to asylum-seeking or migrant children.
2023
2023
2023
Committee against Torture
§ 16. The State party should ensure that detention of asylum-seekers is only used as a last resort for as short a time as possible in accordance with article 31 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and that all asylumseekers held in administrative detention have access to a lawyer and free legal aid.
§ 17. The State party should consider reducing the permissible length of administrative detention in preparation for deportation, in particular for children underthe age of 18 years. The State party is strongly recommended to do so in the framework of its revision of the Asylum Act and the Foreigners Act.
2010
2010
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
Yes
116.177 End the detention of migrant children and migrant families with children and provide them, including those who are unaccompanied and separated, with unimpeded access to documentation, education, health care, psychosocial support and social protection services (Paraguay);
116.178 Refrain from detaining asylum-seeking children and migrant families with children (Philippines);
2023
4th
2023
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
CPCSE, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
2015
2015
2017
ECHRP1, Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
1995
1995
2017
ECHRP7, Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
2005
2005
2017
ECPT, European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment
1991
1991
2017
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
One of the smallest countries in Europe, Liechtenstein had recorded 2,454 cases of COVID-19 as of 26 January 2021. Following confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in the country on 3 March 2020, the government imposed various restrictive measures, including a ban on all public and private events, a prohibition for more than five people to gather in public spaces, and the closure of all bars and nightclubs.
There is little available information regarding the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers during the crisis. The country receives just a handful of asylum applications each year (39 in 2019). According to UNHCR, many of these applications are found to be inadmissible, largely on Dublin III grounds, but also due to controversial admissibility grounds provided in the Asylum Act (see below for more information).
According to UNHCR - which describes Liechtenstein’s asylum system as “similar to the Swiss system” - applicants are initially placed in a reception centre in Vaduz (or other accommodation provided by the State) during asylum proceedings. Applicants are provided legal advice from government-commissioned lawyers following the first instance decision.
Following a recommendation from Brazil during the second cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review in 2012 urging Liechtenstein to “Reduce the permissible length of administrative detention of asylum seekers, especially children,” the state party rejected the suggestion. It noted, “The Asylum Act and the Foreigners Act set out the maximum duration of administrative detention of asylum-seekers. For adults, it is six months. For minors between the ages of 15 and 18, it is three months. Younger persons may not be placed in administrative detention. In Liechtenstein's view, the maximum duration of administrative detention complies with international standards and is not disproportionately long.” In 2008, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture reported that non-nationals are detained in Vaduz Prison. The GDP does not have evidence about whether this facility continues to provide this function today.
In January 2017, Liechtenstein introduced new asylum admissibility grounds following amendments to the Asylum Act. Some of the grounds were heavily criticised. For example, Article 20 Para. 1 (g) provides that an applicant will be found inadmissible if their behaviour shows that they are unwilling or unable to integrate. In its 2017 submission on Liechtenstein to the Universal Periodic Review, UNHCR noted that it was “concerned that some of these new admissibility grounds will lead to exclusion from refugee status beyond the exclusion clauses of the 1951 Convention (Art. 1F).
Government Agencies
Government Principality of Liechtenstein: https://regierung.li/thema/16425/the-government?id=231504
Police: https://www.landespolizei.li/en
International Organisations
UNHCR Liechtenstein Country Information Page: https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/liechtenstein
NGO & Research Institutions
Liechtenstein Institute: https://liechtenstein-institut.li/
Liechtenstein Refugees Aid - https://www.fluechtlingshilfe.li/
