When can you be detained when seeking asylum in Estonia and how?
State authorities are allowed to detain you when you arrive in Estonia to apply for asylum. However, as detention is a very severe restriction of your liberty, detention in an asylum context is only permitted in specific situations and following the procedure prescribed by law. The grounds for this detention are explained in the Act on granting international protection to aliens.
Moreover, while in detention you must be treated humanely. Namely, you must be held in appropriate conditions and protected from all forms of abuse.
If the detention has not been lawful and you have not been treated humanely, such human rights as the right to liberty and security, the right to life, the prohibition of torture and the right to private life may have been affected.
About this Guide
This Guide will explain the grounds on which you may be detained and how for the detention to be lawful, the basic rights you have during the detention, where you will stay and how you must be treated. It will also explain how you can complain about the issues related to your detention.