Uruguay: Information on a requirement of police authorization to change place of residence (follow-up to URY13744 of 15 April 1993)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | URY23275.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Uruguay: Information on a requirement of police authorization to change place of residence (follow-up to URY13744 of 15 April 1993), 1 February 1996, URY23275.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abe977.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Further to the information provided in URY13744, the information that follows is contained in pages 60-61 of the 1994 report of the Servicio de Paz y Justicia of Uruguay (SERPAJ-Uruguay).
In a national encounter held in Montevideo in July 1994, the Uruguayan Association of Professional Prostitutes (Asociación de Meretrices Profesionales del Uruguay, AMEPU) denounced the authorities for a number of abuses committed against sexual workers. These included the denial of Good Behaviour certificates (Certificados de Buena Conducta) to prostitutes, and police abuses against them in various localities. Among the specific situations faced by prostitutes that the source describes as a violation of their rights, is the requirement to obtain police authorization to leave or re-enter the department where they reside. They also face banishment (destierro), which prevents them not only from working in an area, but from even living or passing through it. The source also reports that in Paso de los Toros, Tacuarembó, the police segregate sexual workers from the regular beaches during the summer season, forcing the sexual workers to attend a different beach.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Servicio de Paz y Justicia of Uruguay (SERPAJ-Uruguay). December 1994. Derechos Humanos en Uruguay 1994. Montevideo: Servicio de Paz y Justicia of Uruguay (SERPAJ-Uruguay).