Timor-Leste

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Asylum Applications

1

2014

International Migrants

8,399

2020

Population

1,400,000

2023

International Migrants as % of Population

0.64%

2020

Overview

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

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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)
669
2017
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
4
2017
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
56
2017

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
1,400,000
2023
1,300,000
2020
1,185,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
8,399
2020
8,417
2019
10,800
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
0.64
2020
0.9
2015
Refugees (Year)
0
2016
0
2015
Asylum Applications (Year)
1
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
0
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
1,169
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
45
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
247
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
133 (Medium)
2015

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2024
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2024
Legal Tradition(s)
Customary law
2017
Muslim law
2017
Civil law
2017

GROUNDS FOR DETENTION

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
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2009
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2009
2017
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
2003
2017
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2004
2017
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
2004
2017
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
2003
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
2003
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
2003
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2003
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
2003
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
2003
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 11/19
Treaty Reservations
Reservation Year
Observation Date
CRSR Article 22 2002
2002
2017
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2003
2003
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
1/7
2017
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Migrant Workers "§32. take the necessary steps to ensure that in administrative and judicial proceedings, including detention and expulsion proceedings, migrant workers and members of their families, particularly those in an irregular situation, are guaranteed due process on an equal basis with nationals of the state party before the courts and tribunals. in the light of the committee’s general comment no. 2 (2013) on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families, the committee recalls that administrative detention should only be used as a measure of last resort, and recommends that the state party consider alternatives to administrative detention. the committee also recommends that the state party: (a) include in its second periodic report, detailed disaggregated information on the number of migrant workers detained for immigration offences and the place, average duration and conditions of their detention; (b) provide updated information, including disaggregated statistics, on the number of migrant worker expulsions and the procedures used; (c) ensure that migrant workers detained for violations of immigration law are held in special facilities separate from prisoners, and that men and women are held separately; (d) ensure that the minimum guarantees enshrined in the convention are assured with regard to administrative and judicial procedures against migrant workers and members of their families." 2015
2015
2017

> UN Special Procedures

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2016
2017
No 2012
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
As of 9 November 2020, there had been only 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Timor-Leste. The government has received praise for its effective containment of COVID-19, in the context of a health system that government officials were concerned would not be able to cope with a public health emergency due to its fledgling nature. A state of emergency was initially declared on 28 March. Timorese returning from overseas were subject to mandatory quarantine and quarantine isolation centres were established with the assistance of WHO. IOM also worked with the Ministry of Health to improve quarantine centre standards through the provision of necessary equipment and hygiene supplies. During the week of 14 September 2020, IOM facilitated the return of 11 Vietnamese migrants from Timor-Leste. 8 men and 3 women were rescued by authorities after drifting at sea for days and landing at Jaco Island on 10 June. The migrants were placed into the mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Vietnam, following which, they were assisted by IOM to return to their respective homes. Their return was organised through the Voluntary Returns Support and Reintegration Assistance for Bali Process Member States programme. According to IOM, since the start of the pandemic, 60 people have been assisted in 20 countries with assisted voluntary return through this programme. Article 72 of Timor-Leste’s 2003 Immigration and Asylum Act provides that foreigners who enter or remain illegally in the national territory can be detained by any police officer for questioning. They must be taken before a competent Court within 48 hours of being detained. To date, the GDP has been unable to establish the extent to which detention facilities are used in Timor-Leste as part of immigration enforcement procedures or obtain details on COVID-19 related measures taken to safeguard people in immigration custody. Timor-Leste is a signatory of the Refugee Convention and as of December 2015, the country hosted five asylum seekers and refugees. UNHCR has previously criticized Article 92 of the Immigration and Asylum Act, which requires that asylum seekers lodge their application within 72 hours of their arrival in Timor-Leste, for creating hardships and impediments to seeking asylum. In addition, the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW), in its concluding observations in 2015, expressed concern at the lack of information regarding detention and expulsion measures against migrant workers and members of their families, particularly those in an irregular situation. The committee also expressed concern that “the existing detention facilities do not have adequate basic services, including food, health care and hygienic conditions, and that migrant workers detained for violations of immigration law are not held separately from prisoners.”