Tuvalu: Covid-19 and Detention

Like other Pacific-island nations that this platform has reported on (like Samoa and Tonga), Tuvalu had yet to report any COVID-19 cases as of October 2020. In March, the country instituted a State of Emergency and shut its borders to all inbound flights and vessels. Tuvalu has one hospital for its approximately 11,000-person population, with […]

Read More…

C. Farbotko and T. Kitara, “How is Tuvalu Securing Against COVID-19?,” DevPolicyBlog, 6 April 2020, https://devpolicy.org/how-is-tuvalu-securing-against-covid-19-20200406/

Nauru: Covid-19 and Detention

During a near 20-year period (2001-2019), the tiny island nation of Nauru hosted a controversial offshore processing centre for Australia that confined asylum seeking men, women, and children in order to prevent them from making their journeys to Australia. Since the facility officially closed, refugees and asylum seekers on the island have faced a precarious […]

Read More…

Aerial View of Nauru, (Getty Images,

Tonga: Covid-19 and Detention

In March, Tonga instituted a State of Emergency and shut its borders in order to prevent a domestic outbreak. As with other Pacific-island nations like Palau and Samoa, Tonga remained as of October 2020 one of a small handful of countries that had not reported any COVID-19 cases. Historically, Tonga has not been a destination […]

Read More…

Students from the Queen Salote School of Nursing Participate in a Repatriation Drill in June 2020, (Government of the Kingdom of Tonga,

Myanmar: Covid-19 and Detention

There have been some 7,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 147 deaths in Myanmar. After weeks without any local transmissions, Myanmar reported an outbreak in the western Rakhine state in mid-August that has since spread across the country. As of September 21, 45,000 people had been quarantined in the country’s attempts to contain the virus. […]

Read More…

Reuters, “Myanmar’s ‘Maximum Containment’ COVID-19 Plan Pushed to Brink as Virus Surges,” Channel News Asia, 24 September 2020, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/covid-19-myanmar-maximum-containment-plan-pushed-brink-13141922

Palau: Covid-19 and Detention

Palau, a Pacific archipelago nation made up of more than 300 islands, has not been a significant destination for asylum seekers or refugees. However, its location–shared maritime borders with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Micronesia–is adjacent to important migration routes in Asia. Nevertheless, the country does not have national asylum legislation and the country is not […]

Read More…

Reinalda Ebiklou at the entrance to Belau National Hospital, (Richard Brooks,

Bahrain: Covid-19 and Detention

Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, Migrant-Rights.org, an advocacy organisation that aims to advance the rights of migrant workers, reported that in Bahrain, due to Covid-19, the Ministry of Interior issued a circular ordering authorities not to detain migrants because of their irregular status until the end of the year. Another circular has […]

Read More…

Migrant-Rights.org logo, (Migrant-Rights.org, accessed on 28 September 2020, https://www.migrant-rights.org/)

Mongolia: Covid-19 and Detention

Mongolia has been lauded for its efforts to contain the coronavirus despite having a long, porous border with China. As of 23 September, there had been 313 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and no deaths. However, there appears to be no publicly available information indicating the impact of the virus on migrants or asylum seekers, or […]

Read More…

The Mongolian Military Mans a Checkpoint During a Covid-19 Outbreak Drill, on 7 May 2020, (A. Nyamdavaa,

Samoa: Covid-19 and Detention

Having closed its borders in March to prevent a domestic outbreak, as of October 2020 Samoa remained one of a small number of countries that had yet to report any Covid-19 cases (along with other Pacific island nations, including Palau [see 29 September update on this platform]). Although the country is a signatory to the […]

Read More…

WHO Staff Member Demonstrating Handwashing to Children During the COVID-19 Assessment in Upolu, (WHO,

Bangladesh: Covid-19 and Detention

A controversial refugee settlement set up by the Bangladesh government on the island of Bhasan Char has been under intense scrutiny since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic because of claims by government officials that refugees confined to the site are being kept there as a Covid-19 quarantine measure. This scrutiny has intensified after women […]

Read More…

Refugees held on Bhasan Char island protesting to return to Cox’s Bazar during a 3-day “go and see visit” to the island for 40 refugees from the camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, September 5, 2020 (Human Rights Watch, “Bangladesh: Reunify Rohingya Refugee Families,” 15 September 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/15/bangladesh-reunify-rohingya-refugee-families)

Micronesia: Covid-19 and Detention

The Federated States of Micronesia, which as of 25 August 2020 had no confirmed cases of COVID-19, does not have national asylum legislation and is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. According to the 2020 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, human traffickers target women from Micronesia for different forms of exploitation. As of […]

Read More…

J. Pasley, “Isolation and Closed Borders: Here's How Ten Pacific Island Nations are COVID-19-Free, and the Costs That Come With it,” Business Insider, 22 September 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-10-pacific-island-nations-are-covid-19-free-2020-9?r=US&IR=T