Population figures
Total country population
628,786
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
24
Asylum-seekers:
2,911
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
0
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
12
Country context
Suriname is situated on the north coast of South America, along the Caribbean Sea between Guyana, French Guyana and Brazil. Suriname faces a complex situation as a country of origin, transit, and destination for human trafficking and irregular migration. In the past 30 years, Suriname, like its neighbours in the Caribbean region, has become a host country for irregular migrants attracted by the relative ease of Suriname’s border crossing, the perception that the population is more accepting of migrants, better wages in the agricultural sector, and the prospect of finding prosperity in the Suriname gold mines, an industry which until recently remained unregulated.
A small numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers are hosted in the country. They mostly are originating from neighbouring countries and, more recently, from further afield. Refugees reside within urban and peri-urban communities rather than in camps. Access to housing, education and health services is provided under prevailing civil-residency regulations pending status determination.
...Suriname acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 1978 but has not enacted dedicated domestic asylum legislation or status-determination procedures. The Aliens Act of 1991 offers limited protection measures—including a pathway to residency and eventual naturalization for refugees recognized under international law—but does not establish formal procedural safeguards or an independent appeals mechanism. In the absence of national asylum and refugee legislation and procedures in Suriname, UNHCR, through its Regional Office based in Washington DC, conducts registration of asylum-seekers and refugee status determination in the country, and undertakes the search for durable solutions for recognized refugees. Persons in need of international protection have been referred to UNHCR by other UN agencies and by the Suriname Red Cross.
Statelessness is not addressed by a domestic framework. Although recommendations have been made to accede to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Suriname remains outside both instruments and lacks procedures for identifying or determining stateless status, leaving persons without nationality dependent on general immigration rules and discretionary documentation practices.
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