Page - 300 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE300 le retour de ses propres citoyens. Cependant, contrairement à d’autres pays, le Canada a opté pour une approche plus restrictive en deman- dant aux transporteurs aériens de refuser l’embarquement de tout passager à l’étranger, citoyen canadien ou non, présentant des symp- tômes apparentés à la COVID-19. Dans cet article, nous analysons la légalité de l’approche du Canada concernant le retour de ses citoyens au pays, tant au regard du droit international des droits de la per- sonne qu’en vertu du droit constitutionnel canadien. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, states around the world have temporarily limited access to their territory. While some, such as Morocco,1 decided to ban entry to everyone—including their own citizens who are stranded abroad—most allowed their own citizens to return, often through repatriation efforts. In doing so, these states acted in a manner consistent with a citizen’s right in international law to return to their country, as explained in the first part of this chapter. Once on national soil, citizens were assessed to determine if they would need to self-isolate or be directed to a quarantine facility. However, in contrast to other countries such as Australia and New Zealand, Canada opted for control both on foreign soil and on arrival. It requested that air carriers deny boarding to any passengers abroad, citizen or not, with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19. In choosing this more restrictive approach, Canada was an outlier. Whether this approach was consistent with both Canada’s international obliga- tions and the constitutionally protected right for citizens to return to Canada is the focus of the second part of this chapter. The “Right to Return” in International Law In international law, “freedom of movement” is a generic term cover- ing movements of individuals within a state as well as from one state 1. On March 13, 2020, Morocco suspended all international passenger flights to and from its territory and announced its intention to not repatriate the esti- mated 18,000 Moroccans stranded abroad. It committed, instead, to provid- ing, through its consular officers, basic assistance for accommodation, food, and medicines. See Samir Bennis, “Morocco Should Move to Repatriate Moroccans Stranded Overseas”, Morocco  World  News (19 April 2020), online: <www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/04/300036/morocco-should-move- to-repatriate-moroccans-stranded-overseas>.