Travel restrictions violate international law
Benjamin Mason Meier1,*, Roojin Habibi2, Y. Tony Yang3
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Science 27 Mar 2020:
Vol. 367, Issue 6485, pp. 1436
DOI: 10.1126/science.abb6950
From China's lockdown of the city of Wuhan (1) to U.S. restrictions on travelers from Europe (2) to border closures across a widening range of countries (3), governments are increasingly seeking to limit freedom of movement in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These travel restrictions have slowed, but not halted, the spread of the pandemic (“The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak,” M. Chinazzi et al., Research Articles, published online 6 March, p. eaba9757). However, the necessity and benefits of this public health response are outweighed by its violation of international law.