According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have steadily risen across Syria – in large part because key parties (both regime and opposition) have failed to take adequate steps to protect against the virus. By the end of 2020, 39,728 cases had been reported (11,434 in […]
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?
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
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2005
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2004
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 10/19
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Migrant Workers
42 ecommends that the State party:
(a) Release all migrants detained arbitrarily and effectively investigate and
prosecute all cases of arbitrary detention, violence, other human rights abuses and
deaths of detained migrants and provide, on a systematic basis, mandatory training on
human rights, gender equality, the best interests of the child and non-discrimination for
all State officials dealing with migrants, with a view to preventing such violations; b) Decriminalize irregular migration, adopt measures to phase out, and
ultimately put an end to, immigration detention and enact a presumption in law against
detention and therefore in favour of freedom; (c) Immediately cease immigration detention of children, whether unaccompanied, separated from their parents or together with their families, and of other vulnerable groups of migrant workers and members of their families, as well as
asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons; (d) Ensure that: (i) In all other cases, the detention of migrants is an exceptional measure of last resort, pursuing a legitimate end and permitted by law, and that it is necessary and proportionate and applied for the shortest possible period of time; (ii) The grounds for detention are specified in each case, with specific reasons
provided as to why alternative measures cannot be implemented; (iii) The measure is reviewed within 24 hours by an independent and impartial
judicial authority; (iv) In line with its human rights obligations, alternative measures to detention
are considered and made use of before imposing detention measures. The
Committee recognizes alternatives to detention as being all community-based
care measures or non-custodial accommodation solutions – in law, policy or
practice – that are less restrictive than detention and must be considered in the
context of lawful detention decision procedures to ensure that detention is
necessary and proportionate in all cases, with the aim of respecting the human
rights and avoiding the arbitrary detention of migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees
and stateless persons; (e) Ensure that alternative measures to detention are applied to asylum-
seekers and refugees, and in all cases of voluntary return, and that migrant workers
and members of their families are informed of their rights and about procedures in the
detention context in a language they understand and have access to legal aid, effective
remedies, justice and consular services;
(f) Ensure that, in administrative and judicial proceedings, including for
charges not related to immigration status, migrants are guaranteed due process and the
right to a fair trial on an equal basis with nationals of the State party before the courts
and tribunals;
(g) In exceptional cases where detention cannot be avoided, ensure that all
immigration detention facilities are officially designated for this purpose, guarantee
adequate and decent conditions, including gender-responsive health services, including
sexual and reproductive health services, psychological care, water, sanitation and
hygiene, food, sufficient space and ventilation, leisure and recreational activities and
access to outdoor areas; (h) Ensure that women detainees are held separately from men, are guarded
only by adequately trained women officers and are protected against violence, in
particular sexual violence, and that specific provisions are made for pregnant and
nursing women;
(i) Strengthen mechanisms to regularly monitor conditions in migrant
detention centres and grant human rights monitors, including humanitarian agencies
and non-governmental organizations, unannounced and unhindered access to all
migrant detention centres.
2022
2022
> UN Special Procedures
> UN Universal Periodic Review
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have steadily risen across Syria - in large part because key parties (both regime and opposition) have failed to take adequate steps to protect against the virus. By the end of 2020, 39,728 cases had been reported (11,434 in areas under the control of the regime; 20,270 in areas under the control of the Syrian National Army; and 8,024 in areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces). SNHR reports however, that the true number of cases is expected to be far higher due to insufficient testing.
The country’s large population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) - currently estimated to number 6.4 million - is particularly vulnerable to the virus, with many living in overcrowded camps in which social distancing is impossible. In October 2020, a doctor in Idlib told the BBC that COVID was already “out of control” in the region’s IDP camps. “We don’t have many places for people in camps, we don’t have many medikits for this.” As in many areas of Syria, healthcare services in Idlib Governorate have repeatedly been targeted by regime airstrikes - leaving them overwhelmed and underprepared for the new crisis.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been growing concerns over the safety and well being of people incarcerated in the country, including the thousands of Syrians arbitrarily detained during the conflict. In early March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that an outbreak within prisons would be “catastrophic.” As of August 2020, some 100,000 Syrians remain “disappeared” having been arrested by different parties. A large number are believed to remain within the regime’s network of prisons, which are notorious for their abysmal conditions and widespread and systematic use of torture. “The Syrian Network for Human Rights can confirm that most of the detainees, especially in the four main security branches and military prisons, have a space per person not exceeding 70cm2 in cells that lack any ventilation or the most basic standards of cleanliness.” To-date, the regime has failed to clarify whether it has taken any steps to protect detainees, or to report on the number of COVID cases within its cells. However, in a security leak from Damascus in March 2020, 816 persons in Adra prison were reported to have contracted the virus and 204 were alleged to have died.
Although there is little available information regarding the use of immigration detention in Syria, significant numbers of foreigners are known to be detained in locked camps by authorities in the northeast of the country. Foreign nationals who traveled to join IS, or to live within its “caliphate,” were rounded up by the Syrian Democratic Forces and have since been detained in conditions described by HRW as “filthy and often inhuman and life-threatening.” In June 2020, HRW highlighted the detention of 47 Canadians (including 26 children) in makeshift prisons, and urged Canadian authorities to facilitate their return home and initiate their trial for ISIS-related crimes. In August 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Al-Hol detention camp, which was holding some 65,000 people at the time.
