Uzbekistan

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

13,025

2023

International Migrants

1,162,007

2020

Population

35,200,000

2023

International Migrants as % of Population

3.47%

2020

Overview

Uzbekistan; Uzbekistan detains migrants and asylum seekers, though it lacks a dedicated legal framework regulating immigration detention. Asylum seekers and refugees are treated as irregular migrants under migration laws. Foreign nationals can potentially be held in criminal custody facilities while awaiting deportation.

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

Uzbekistan: Covid-19 and Detention

Prior to the pandemic, between two and three million Uzbek nationals worked overseas–primarily in Russia, as well as in countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Hard-hit by the repercussions of the pandemic and with many losing their sources of employment, significant numbers of Uzbek migrant workers have sought to […]

Read More…

B. Pannier, “Uzbekistan’s Coronavirus ‘Success Story’ Rapidly Falls Apart,” RFERL, 30 July 2020, https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-s-coronavirus-success-story-rapidly-falls-apart/30756514.html
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)
43,900
2014
42,000
2012
42,000
2009
48,000
2003
63,900
2000
60,000
1996
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
150
2014
152
2012
153
2009
184
2003
263
2000
258
1996

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
35,200,000
2023
33,500,000
2020
29,893,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
1,162,007
2020
1,168,384
2019
1,170,900
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
3.47
2020
3.9
2015
Refugees (Year)
13,025
2023
13,032
2021
13
2020
13
2019
14
2018
21
2017
26
2016
118
2015
Asylum Applications (Year)
0
2023
Stateless Persons (Year)
25,413
2023
79,942
2018
85,555
2017
86,524
2016
86,703
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
2,036
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
5,587,700
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
324.4
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
114 (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
2024
Legal Tradition(s)
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
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1995
2017
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1995
2017
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1995
2017
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1995
2017
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1995
2017
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1994
2017
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1992
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2008
2017
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 8/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 1995
1995
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
1/6
2017
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child 44. the Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Establish a national system for international protection, including for children, with safeguards against arbitrary detention, deportation and refoulement; (b) Prohibit all detention of children for migration-related reasons, including of unaccompanied children; (c) Recognize and provide legal status to refugees and asylum-seeking families, including children; (d) Facilitate access for asylum-seeking and refugee children to education, health care and social services; (e) Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 2022
2022
2022
Committee on the Rights of the Child § 62. "The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Ensure that its laws and procedures fully respect the principle of non-refoulement in accordance with international refugee and human rights standards and abandon the practice of forcibly returning child refugees and asylum seekers and their families to their countries of origin where there is a risk of their being subject to torture or persecution; (b) Consider extending a temporary protection regime to child refugees and their families in Uzbekistan who are unable and/or unwilling to return to their country of origin and whose third country resettlement applications have been rejected multiple times, inter alia through the provision of residence and work permits; (c) Consider granting legal status and an opportunity for local integration to mandate refugees who have been married to Uzbek nationals, and whose children were born in, and are citizens of, Uzbekistan; and, (d) Consider reopening the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) office in its territory and consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness." 2013
2013
Human Rights Committee §41. The State party should establish a comprehensive national asylum system that is in conformity with international standards and that guarantees access to the territory and to asylum procedures to all persons in need of international protection, and that also provides for adequate safeguards against arbitrary detention, deportation and refoulement. The State party should also ensure that current citizenship legislation provides adequate safeguards for the prevention of statelessness in compliance with international standards. The Committee also encourages the State party to accede to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 2020
2020

> UN Special Procedures

Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism 2021
2021
2021

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2023 4th
2023
No 2013
2017
No 2009
2017

> Global Compact for Migration (GCM)

GCM Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018
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
Prior to the pandemic, between two and three million Uzbek nationals worked overseas--primarily in Russia, as well as in countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Hard-hit by the repercussions of the pandemic and with many losing their sources of employment, significant numbers of Uzbek migrant workers have sought to return home. While former Uzbek president Karimov was notoriously disdainful towards Uzbek labour migrants--“Those people who go to Moscow to clean the streets are just lazybones” he stated in June 2013--current president Mirziyoyev has adopted a more favourable stance, appreciating labor migrants’ importance to the Uzbek economy. His government won praise from some for its work assisting stranded migrants to return home during the pandemic (arranging several repatriation flights, trains, and buses). According to Uzbekistan’s Deputy Labour Minister, at least 500,000 had returned as of 29 May, with more returning since. On 21 September, the country’s Ministry of Transport reported that it had arranged for a further 1,800 migrant workers to be returned by train from Samara and Novosibirsk. On the other hand, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that the government’s efforts to repatriate migrant workers have been, at best, erratic, with many thousands remaining trapped outside the country’s borders. Many have been forced to camp out at airports in Russia (see our 24 July Russia update on this platform). Others have attempted to return by bus or car through Russia, often having to spend time in makeshift camps at the Russia-Kazakhstan border as they await transport and permission to cross. One such camp, near the Kinel train station in Samara Oblast, is designed for 900 people. However, according to HRW, in September some 4,000 migrants, including at least 43 children, were stuck there. No medical care is reported to be available in the camp, and persons are not tested for COVID-19. Journalists from Novaya Gazeta, who visited the camp in September, allege that the camp management has sought to prevent camp residents from speaking to the media about the conditions they face. An additional camp has also been established in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky (Rostov Oblast), from where occasional trains leave for Uzbekistan. With Covid infection rates significantly higher in labour migration destinations such as Russia than in Uzbekistan, persons who have managed to return have faced quarantine in hastily-erected state run facilities--some of which are no more than cargo containers placed together in rows. In the largest reported site--the “Urtasary” facility in the Tashkent region--3,467 containers were placed together, each containing four beds. In July, the facility was the site of protests, as returnees demanded their release from the carceral-style facility. According to the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, some had been held for more than 30 days without any explanation, far exceeding the recommended 14-day quarantine period. In a video shared by Ozodlik (RFE/RL’s Uzbek service), detainees penned into the camp by iron fencing can be seen calling for their release. Allegations of police brutality also surfaced, and one returnee is reported to have committed suicide following his placement in the facility. The Uzbek Forum for Human Rights has confirmed to the GDP, however, that the Urtasary facility is now closed. Returning migrants are instead instructed to quarantine in their own homes.
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?
Unknown
2022
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 Included
2022