Syria

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

13,024

2023

Asylum Applications

5,832

2023

International Migrants

868,711

2020

Population

23,200,000

2023

Overview

Syria; There are numerous reports of Syrian military forces arbitrarily detaining refugees who have been deported back to the country, subjecting many to enforced disappearance, torture, and other abuses.

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

Syria: Covid-19 and Detention

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 […]

Read More…

N. Ahmado, “Syrian Activists Fear COVID-19 Outbreak in Syria's Underground Prisons,” Voice of America, 21 November 2020, https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/syrian-activists-fear-covid-19-outbreak-syrias-underground-prisons
Last updated: July 2024

DETENTION STATISTICS

Migration Detainee Entries
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)
10,599
2004
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
7.3
2004
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
60
2004

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
23,200,000
2023
17,500,000
2020
18,502,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
868,711
2020
867,848
2019
875,200
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
4.96
2020
4.7
2015
Refugees (Year)
13,024
2023
14,308
2021
15,304
2020
16,213
2019
18,817
2018
19,429
2017
19,809
2016
21,113
2015
149,140
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
1.07
2016
7.94
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
5,832
2023
1,570
2019
10,499
2016
1,689
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
49.8
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
160,000
2023
160,000
2016
160,000
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Remittances to the Country (in USD)
1,622
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
4,198
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
134 (Medium)
2015

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2023
Unknown
2022
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2023
Yes
2014
Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017
Muslim law
2017

GROUNDS FOR DETENTION

LENGTH OF DETENTION

DETENTION INSTITUTIONS

Types of Detention Facilities Used in Practice

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
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1978
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1969
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1969
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1969
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
2003
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2004
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1993
2017
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2009
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2009
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 10/19
Treaty Reservations
Reservation Year
Observation Date
CTOCTP Article 7 2009
2009
2017
CRC Article 14 1993
1993
2017
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CRPD, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2009
2009
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
1/8
2017
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

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2012
2017
No 2016
2017

> Global Compact for Migration (GCM)

GCM Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

> Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)

GCR Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

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.
Did the country release immigration detainees as a result of the pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the country use legal "alternatives to detention" as part of pandemic detention releases?
Unknown
2022
Did the country Temporarily Cease or Restrict Issuing Detention Orders?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Adopt These Pandemic-Related Measures for People in Immigration Detention?
Unknown (Unknown) Unknown Unknown Unknown
2022
Did the Country Lock-Down Previously "Open" Reception Facilities, Shelters, Refugee Camps, or Other Forms of Accommodation for Migrant Workers or Other Non-Citizens?
Unknown
2022
Were cases of COVID-19 reported in immigration detention facilities or any other places used for immigration detention purposes?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Cease or Restrict Deportations/Removals During any Period After the Onset of the Pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Release People from Criminal Prisons During the Pandemic?
Yes
2020
Did Officials Blame Migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Refugees for the Spread of COVID-19?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Restrict Access to Asylum Procedures?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Commence a National Vaccination Campaign?
Yes
2021
Were Populations of Concern Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
Unknown (Included) Unknown Included Unknown
2021