The tiny country of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, has one of the highest percentages of international migrants in the world, which as of 2017 accounted for more than 50 percent of the country’s population of some 80,000. To date, the GDP has not identified any dedicated immigration removal facilities, and there appears to be little publicly available information about Andorra’s Covid-19-related measures with respect to immigration detention. On 26 March 2020, the government announced temporary measures to extend visas for temporary workers who could not return to their country of origin due to border closures. Residence permits and healthcare benefits were also extended. As of mid-August 2020, the country had recorded nearly 1,000 cases of Covid-19.
- Government of Andorra, “El Govern impulsa mesures per facilitar l’estada dels treballadors temporers mentre no puguin retornar al seu país d’origen,” 26 March 2020, online: https://www.govern.ad/comunicats/item/11360-el-govern-impulsa-mesures-per-facilitar-l-estada-dels-treballadors-temporers-mentre-no-puguin-retornar-al-seu-pais-d-origen
- Government of Andorra, “La mobilitat a les fronteres es redueix més del 90% i del 78% internament,” 19 March 2020, https://www.govern.ad/comunicats/item/11330-la-mobilitat-a-les-fronteres-es-redueix-mes-del-90-i-del-78-internament
- Government of Andorra, “S’allarguen les autoritzacions d’immigració temporals fins al 15 de juny,“ 27 May 2020, https://www.govern.ad/comunicats/item/11569-s-allarguen-les-autoritzacions-d-immigracio-temporals-fins-al-15-de-juny
- United Nations, “International Migration Report, 2017,” 2017, http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2017_Highlights.pdf
- Worldometer, “Andorra: Cornavirus Cases,” accessed on 13 August 2020, https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/andorra/
