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59 Nordic J. Int'l L. 186 (1990)
The Right to Freedom of Movement and the (Un)Lawfulness of AIDS/HIV Specific Travel Restrictions from a European Perspective

handle is hein.journals/nordic59 and id is 188 raw text is: The Right to Freedom of Movement and the (Un)lawfulness of AIDS/HIV Specific Travel Restrictions from a European Perspective Aart Hendriks LL.M., M.A.I The AIDS pandemic seems to have encouraged States to impose new restrictions on the freedom of movement of individuals. Entrance restrictions, which may effect both non-nationals and returning nationals, generally aim at identifying people with AIDS and HIV positive individuals in order to subject them to a special regime. It is not unusual that entrance becomes completely barred. The current trend of an increasing number of States introducing such measures challenges the minimum interference with international movement principle. This will have a particularly negative effect on the process of European integration. In order to understand the present dilemmas caused by AIDS, this article seeks to describe national public health attitudes towards epidemics from an historical and legal perspective. Parallels will be drawn between previous threats to public health and the present AIDS epidemic. National regulations will be compared to relevant international human rights law and will be reviewed to determine the ad- missibility of particular measures which have an impact on free movement within the jurisdiction of the European Communities (E.C.) as well as between an E.C. Member State and non-Member States. Introduction People involved in international travel and migration have often been blamed for the spread of epidemic diseases. From a retrospective view, we learn that restrictions on transborder movement have often been imposed as a first reaction to contagious diseases thought to have an external link. Similarly, aliens were often blamed for spreading epidemic diseases, sometimes leading to massive expulsion. Within the modem States, effective administrative and legal barriers replaced traditional met- hods of controlling international movement. Visas, residence permits and medical certificates have proven to be effective tools to reduce threats to public health. As a general rule, entrance requirements are more severe the longer the alien intends to reside in a host country. However, State's powers towards the individual - nationals as well as non-nationals - are not unlimited. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are leading principles all States are bound to respect. Particularly since the tragic events of the Second World War, an array of interna- tional organizations and monitoring bodies were established to elaborate human rights standards while assessing State's compliance with already recognized prin- ciples. In the field of international travel and migration, States are not allowed to in- troduce arbitrary restrictions upon immigration. Although public health reasons are

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