Bolivia

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

No

Refugees

1,116

2023

Asylum Applications

61

2023

International Migrants

164,121

2020

Population

12,400,000

2023

Overview

Bolivia; Bolivia detains migrants and asylum seekers, though it lacks a legal framework regulating immigration detention. Migrants can potentially be detained for immigration offenses like overstaying visas or irregular entry, and they can be held in prisons alongside convicted criminals.

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

Bolivia: Covid-19 and Detention

Bolivia has been strongly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. By 31 July, Bolivia had more than 75,000 cases of Covid-19 and 2,894 deaths related to the disease. Faced with the pandemic, the government took several measures including declaring a state of emergency, closing borders, imposing fines and detaining people who do not respect quarantine or […]

Read More…

United Nations, “Los Migrantes Tienen Derecho a Regresar a su País Durante la Pandemia del Coronavirus,” 15 April 2020, https://news.un.org/es/story/2020/04/1472872
Last updated:

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)
14,598
2016
14,770
2013
9,406
2010
7,683
2007
6,495
2004
5,577
2001
6,149
1998
5,412
1996
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
4.1
2014
6.8
2006
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
130
2016
140
2013
93
2010
80
2007
71
2004
65
2001
76
1998
70
1996

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
12,400,000
2023
11,700,000
2020
10,725,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
164,121
2020
156,114
2019
143,000
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
1.41
2020
1.3
2015
Refugees (Year)
1,116
2023
1,116
2021
1,116
2020
863
2019
810
2018
786
2017
761
2016
775
2015
763
2014
Ratio of Refugees Per 1000 Inhabitants (Year)
0.07
2016
0.07
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
61
2023
12
2016
42
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
61.3
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
0
2016

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
3,124
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
1,201,000
2015
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
671.8
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
110 (Medium)
2015
Pew Global Attitudes Poll on Immigration
73
2007

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2022
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
No
2023
Additional Legislation
Reglamento de la Ley de migración, DS Nº 1923, 13 de marzo de 2014 (2014)
2014
Ley N°370 del 8 de Mayo 2013, de Migración (2013)
2013
Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017

GROUNDS FOR DETENTION

Criminal Penalties for Immigration-Related Violations
Yes

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
OP ICESCR, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
2012
2018
OP CRC Communications Procedure
2013
2018
OPCRPD, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2009
2009
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2009
2009
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2009
2009
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2008
2008
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
2006
2006
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1999
1999
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1990
1990
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1990
1990
CRSSP, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
1983
1983
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1982
1982
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1982
1982
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1982
1982
PCRSR, Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1982
1982
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1970
1970
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1970
1970
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 18/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CRC, [Third] Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child establishing a communications procedure, 2011 2013
2013
ICESCR, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2008 2012
2012
CRPD, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2009
2009
CAT, declaration under article 22 of the Convention 2006
2006
ICERD, declaration under article 14 of the Convention 2006
2006
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2000
2000
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 1982
1982
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
7/9
7/9
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Migrant Workers 44, Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that the detention of migrants is an exceptional measure of last resort, that the grounds are specified in each case, with specific reasons given as to why alternative measures cannot be taken, and that the measure is reviewed within 24 hours by an independent and impartial judicial authority; (b) Adopt alternatives to administrative detention for migrant workers and members of their families during proceedings relating to their entry into or expulsion from the country. 46, Committee urges the State party to: (d) Enforce the ban on collective and arbitrary expulsions; conduct an objective assessment of the individual circumstances of each migrant, taking into account any potential protection needs; respect the principle of non-refoulement; and provide alternatives to expulsion, including asylum, complementary protection, residence on humanitarian grounds and regularization on other grounds. 48, Committee urges the State party to: (d) Ensure that the principle of non-refoulement is respected, that individuals in need of international protection are identified and that, where appropriate, foreign nationals are informed of the asylum procedure on arrival in the State party and receive legal aid. 2022
2022
2022
Human Rights Committee 28.The Committee notes the information provided about the current legislation on refugees and non-refoulement and about the ongoing training for migration and border officials. However, it is concerned by allegations that: (a) there have been cases where persons who wished to apply for asylum were turned back at the borders or at airports; (b) in practice, people arriving at the borders or at airports are not informed about the refugee determination procedure or how to file for asylum with the National Commission for Refugees; and (c) the National Commission for Refugees receives applications for asylum only at its central office in La Paz (arts. 2, 7 and 12–14). 29. The State party should redouble its efforts to: (a) Accelerate refugee determination procedures; (b) Ensure that all requests for international protection made anywhere in the country, including at the borders and at airports, are effectively received, registered and transmitted promptly to the processing authorities; (c) Continue and increase the provision of training to migration and border officials in identifying persons in need of international protection and informing them of asylum procedures; (d) Ensure that the principle of non-refoulement is respected in practice. 2022
2022
2022
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 19. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Develop, as a matter of priority and within a specific time frame, a strategy to prevent violence against women, with the participation of various stakeholders, including high-level government officials, and considering the special situations of risk to indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women and women in detention; 2015
2015
2015
Committee on Migrant Workers §31. The Committee recommends that the State party should take the necessary steps to ensure that its consular services respond more effectively to protect and promote the rights of Bolivian migrant workers and members of their families where necessary and that, in particular, they provide the necessary assistance to any of them who are in detention or subject to an expulsion order. 2013
2013
2013
Committee on Migrant Workers §26. The Committee recommends that the State party ensures that migrants or members of their families when detained for violation of provisions relating to migration are deprived of their liberty for as short a time as possible and that it take steps to guarantee that they are held separately from convicted persons or persons detained pending trial, in accordance with article 17, paragraph 3, of the Convention. 2008
2008
2008

> UN Special Procedures

Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance 2012
2012
2015

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2010
2017
No 2014
Yes 2019

> 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

Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
ACHR, American Convention on Human Rights 1979
1979
IACPPT, Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture 2006
2006
APACHR, Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2006
2006
CBDP, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para) 1994
1994
IACFDP, Inter-American convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons 1996
1996

HEALTH CARE PROVISION

HEALTH IMPACTS

COVID-19

Country Updates
Bolivia has been strongly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. By 31 July, Bolivia had more than 75,000 cases of Covid-19 and 2,894 deaths related to the disease. Faced with the pandemic, the government took several measures including declaring a state of emergency, closing borders, imposing fines and detaining people who do not respect quarantine or confinement measures. Bolivia has also imposed restrictions on citizens wishing to return from abroad. Bolivians in Chile, for instance, must spend 14 days in quarantine prior to returning. Some 1,300 Bolivian nationals--including pregnant women, elderly persons, and children--have been stranded in Chile and hundreds of them have been forced to sleep in freezing conditions with little food and water. For its part, by April the Chilean government had transported approximately 1,000 Bolivian nationals to Colchane, a town near the border, where they were accommodated in schools, with sanitary and basic services.
Did the country release immigration detainees as a result of the pandemic?
Not Applicable
2019
Did the country use legal "alternatives to detention" as part of pandemic detention releases?
Not Applicable
2019
Did the country Temporarily Cease or Restrict Issuing Detention Orders?
Not Applicable
2019
Did the Country Adopt These Pandemic-Related Measures for People in Immigration Detention?
Not Applicable (Not Applicable) Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
2019
Did the Country Lock-Down Previously "Open" Reception Facilities, Shelters, Refugee Camps, or Other Forms of Accommodation for Migrant Workers or Other Non-Citizens?
Not Applicable
2019
Were cases of COVID-19 reported in immigration detention facilities or any other places used for immigration detention purposes?
Not Applicable
2019
Did the Country Cease or Restrict Deportations/Removals During any Period After the Onset of the Pandemic?
No
2021
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
2022
Were Populations of Concern Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
Not Applicable (Included) Included Included Unknown
2022