Mr Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and my own country, Sweden, on the topic of expulsion of aliens.
The topic of expulsion of aliens was again deliberated upon by the Commission earlier this year, on the basis of a new report by the Special Rapporteur, Professor Maurice Kamto. The Nordic countries are grateful to Professor Kamto for his work and welcome his report on the subject, which covers the subject matter as well as certain adjacent fields of law.
The Nordic countries have on previous occasions expressed preference for the development of a set of main principles. We note, however, that the ILC deliberations still appear to favour the development of draft articles, addressed to a future codification process. As the seven draft articles demonstrate, this process might lead to an unfortunate convergence of different areas of law, some of which could be ripe for international codification, whereas others pertain to areas such as labour migration, where no apparent need exists. We concur with the Commission that the issue of non-admission falls outside the scope of this work since it is hard to justify how a non-admitted person could fall under the principles of expulsion. A non-admitted person should simply return to the country from which he has arrived. Nor should the transfer of criminals, an issue solidly founded in international criminal law, be included in this context. On the other hand, we find the analysis of the situation of refugees and stateless persons useful.
We regret to note how the core topic – expulsion of aliens from a state – has been permitted to expand into all other areas of law where the only common denominator is the crossing of an international border by an individual, and we fear that this expansion of scope is reducing the odds for the ultimate ILC-product of having the constructive impact it could have.
There can be no doubt that the right of a state to expel aliens is inherent in the sovereignty of states. This right must, however, be exercised in accordance with international law. Here, the principle of non-refoulment and the obligations under international human rights treaties such as the 1984 Convention against Torture are fundamental. The balance between the right of states to expel aliens and other international legal norms must also take into account current challenges to the international peace and security. Expulsion of aliens might be warranted as legitimate counter-terrorism measures, but only when undertaken in conformity with these international legal norms. The Nordic countries appreciate that these challenges have been included in the report. The right to expel aliens corresponds to an obligation of nations to permit and facilitate the return of their own nationals. In this regard, we are faced with particular challenges when states do not cooperate fully in the return of their nationals This problem merits attention in the future work of the Commission. We also look forward to a discussion on dual nationality and possible legal implications on the expulsion of aliens as well as to exploring measures on how to avoid statelessness.
The Nordic countries regard the reports of Professor Kamto as a concluding point in a long process that has produced considerable clarification as regards principles that do apply in situations where aliens are expelled. The Nordic countries would like to encourage the Commission to deal with these principles in its future work, with a less extensive scope, rather than attempt to draft additional articles on which there might be obvious difficulties in reaching agreement.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.