Early during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Moldovan Parliament declared a 60-day state of emergency (17 March – 15 May 2020) after 29 cases of COVID-19 were registered. While most of the restrictions were gradually dropped, the country nevertheless began to see increases in infections, which began to spike at the end […]
Last updated: September 2021
Moldova operates a Centre for Temporary Detention of Foreigners in Chișinău. The facility, open since 2009, received funding from the the European Union and Finland. The facility has been the focus of criticism, in particular for its role in detaining foreigners for political reasons. In a 2018 case involving the detention of Turkish nationals, the European Court of Human Rights found that Moldova detained the individuals in a way that "amounted to an extra-legal transfer of persons from the territory of the respondent State to Turkey which circumvented all guarantees offered to them by domestic and international law."
See:
European Court of Human Rights (2019), Case of Ozdil and others v. the Republic of Moldova," http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-193614
Transnational Institute, "OUTSOURCING OPPRESSION: How Europe externalises migrant detention beyond its shores," 2021, https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/outsourcingoppression-report-tni.pdf
European Commission, "REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Fifth Report on the implementation by the Republic of Moldova of the Action Plan on Visa Liberalisation," 2013, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ET/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52013DC0807
DETENTION STATISTICS
DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
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
Bilateral/Multilateral Readmission Agreements
COVID-19
HEALTH CARE
COVID-19 DATA
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2006
2006
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2005
2005
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2005
2005
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1995
1995
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 14/19
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee against Torture
§ 28. The State party should facilitate rapid and equitable access to an individualized refugee status determination procedure; promptly provide information on the right to seek asylum; refrain from detaining asylum seekers; detain undocumented migrants only as a measure of last resort and for as short a time as possible, including by using alternatives to detention; and ensure full respect for the principle of non-refoulement.
2017
2017
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 37. "The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that no migrant children are detained because of their migration status or that of their parents, and afford children migrants their rights under the Convention, including access to education, health care and social protection...
48. The Committee recommends that the State party, in order to further strengthen the fulfilment of children’s rights, ratify the core human rights instruments to which it is not yet a party, namely, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance."
2017
2017
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
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
2012
2012
2017
ECHRP1, Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
1997
1997
2017
ECHRP7, Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
1997
1997
2017
ECPT, European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment
1997
1997
2017
