Forthcoming in the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (27) The draft articles also adopt a comprehensive definition of ‘alien’, covering all individuals physically present in the territory of the expelling state who do not possess the latter’s nationality, irrespective of their migratory status. This expansion in scope was a point of contention for some states, which were particularly eager to keep the distinction between the treatment of ‘lawful’ and ‘unlawful’ non-nationals.114 Moreover, in theory, the draft articles would be applicable to individuals already covered by special regimes, such as refugees, stateless persons, and migrant workers and their families. Yet, by focusing on the territorial scope of ‘alienage’, the definition ends up excluding individuals who may be under the jurisdiction of a state, but not formally in its territory (e.g., asylum seekers stopped by the coast guard outside territorial waters). On its part, expulsion is defined as ‘a formal act, or conduct consisting of an act or omission, attributable to a state, by which an alien is compelled to leave [its] territory’.115 Hence, it includes both a positive and a negative duty on the part of the state. For one, according to the draft articles, state authorities will have to abstain from unlawfully expelling nonnationals and ensure that non-state actors do not compel them to leave the country. The draft articles also make a distinction between expulsion and other measures of a compulsory nature, such as extradition, surrender to an international criminal court or tribunal, and rejection (refoulement) at the border. The commentary even suggests that individuals stopped at an airport – and therefore physically present in the state – but who are found to be ineligible for admission can be sent back without being formally ‘expelled’. This, nevertheless, would have to be applied without prejudice to ‘rules of international law relating to refugees’.116 However, when defining the proper scope of such rules, the Commission adopted a fairly conservative This issue was raised, for instance, by the Russian delegate. See UNGA, ‘Summary Record of the 19th Meeting: 6 Committee, 69th Session’ (17 November 2014) UN Doc. A/C.6/69/SR.19, at 13. 115 UN ILC, ‘Draft Articles on the Expulsion of Aliens’, at Art. 2(a). 116 Ibid., at Art. 6. 114 th 29 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4816199