European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria
functional model, which depends on States’ capacity to protect individuals
from “immediate and foreseeable” threats.114
Even in the absence of effective control over foreign territory, European
States may have a positive obligation under Article 1 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) to take measures within their
power to ensure respect for human rights outside of their territory. It is well
established, for example, that a State may have jurisdiction in respect of acts
that are performed, or that produce effects, outside its national borders.115
The ECtHR has recognized that State Parties can be held responsible for the
extraterritorial consequences of their decisions if they lead to a risk of
torture or ill-treatment.116 Furthermore, the ECtHR has recognized that a
State Party’s jurisdiction may arise from the actions or omissions of its
diplomatic or consular officials when, in their official capacity, they
exercise abroad their authority in relation to that State’s nationals.117
International human rights treaty bodies have also recognized several
concrete ways in which States exercise jurisdiction despite not having any
territorial control. For example, CommRC has recognized that States have
jurisdiction in respect of acts that are performed, or that produce effects,
outside their national borders. In the context of migration, the Committee
has held that under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”),
States “should take extraterritorial responsibility for the protection of
children who are their nationals outside their territory through childsensitive, rights-based consular protection.”118 Similarly, the Human Rights
114 Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, “Annex to the Report of the Special
Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions: Investigation into the Unlawful Death of
Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,” , 2019, para. 360; The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of
human rights while countering terrorism and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, “Extra-territorial Jurisdiction of States Over Children and Their Guardians in
Camps, Prisons, or Elsewhere in the Northeast Syrian Arab Republic – Legal Analysis,” 2020, para. 1417, 35, 36; CommRC, “L.H. et al v. France,” communications no. 79/2019 and no. 109/2019,
CRC/C/85/D/79/2019-CRC/C/85/D/109/2019, 2 November 2020, para. 9.6 and 9.7; HRComm, “S. and
others v. Malta,” Communication No. 3043/2017, CCPR/C/128/D/3043/2017, 27 January 2021, para. 6.5,
6.7; HRComm, “S. and others v. Italy,” Communication No. 3042/2017, CCPR/C/130/D/3023/2017, 27
January 2021, para. 8.5.
115 ECtHR, “Ilașcu et al v. Moldova and Russia,” Application No., para. 314; ECtHR, “Medvedyev and
others v. France,” Application No. 3394/03, para. 64; ECtHR, “Al Skeini and others v. UK,” Application
No. 55721/07, para. 131; ECtHR, “Güzelyurtlu and others v. Cyprus and Turkey,” Application No.
36925/07, para. 178.
116 ECtHR, “Soering v. UK,” Application No. 14038/88, para. 96-98.
117
ECtHR, “Al Skeini and others v. UK,”Application No., para. 133, 134; ECtHR, “X v. UK,” Application
No. 7547/76, Commission decision of 15 December 1977, Decisions and Reports 12, p. 73; ECtHR, “S.
v. Germany,” Application No. 10686/83, Commission decision of 5 October 1984, D.R. 40, p. 191.
118 UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (
“CMW”), “Joint General Comment No. 4 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the CommRC on State
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