Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention

UNHCR issues the Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers and Alternatives to Detention pursuant to its mandate, as contained in the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Article II of its 1967 Protocol. These Guidelines replace UNHCR, Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers, February 1999. These Guidelines are intended to provide guidance to governments, parliamentarians, legal practitioners, decision-makers, including the judiciary, as well as other international and national bodies working on detention and asylum matters, including non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions and UNHCR staff.