Taking rights territorially. On territorial rights and the right to exclude

Abstract

What does it mean that rights are territorial? Do states have territorial rights? Do these rights justify the exclusion of would-be immigrants? This paper will address these questions and explore the problems associated. The objective is to show how the right to exclude can be justified on the grounds that it is functionally related to the idea of territorial rights and collective self-determination. In doing so, the paper does not aim at covering the entire field of global redistributive justice and migration ethics. Its focus is on the justification and scope of the state’s territorial rights as well as, for analytical convenience, on the relation between territorial rights and the rights of non-forced migrants. By virtue of this focus, the key issue addressed will be what states can reasonably do as territorial states rather than what they owe others.