Not that I want to defend Claeyt in any way (also because this part of the argument is moot to a degree), but International airports are different.
From wikipedia:
For international arrivals, the baggage reclaim area is a restricted area, after immigration control and before clearing customs, so that all baggage can be inspected by customs agents,[2] but the passenger does not have to handle heavy baggage while moving through the passport booth. In the United States and Canada, and also in some airports in Asia, all arriving international passengers' baggage is claimed here and can be re-surrendered to the airline for connecting flights on the other side of customs (for connection from international to domestic flights in most countries, all passengers must claim their baggage). In most other countries passengers transferring to an onward flight do not need to collect their bags unless their airline does not offer to check their bags to their final destination. This is required in American and some Canadian airports because international terminals are not enclosed (the only exit being through customs) and often serve domestic flights. The same rule applies in the case of airports that have U.S. border preclearance facilities. This means that passengers continuing onto the U.S. from other cities must retrieve their checked baggage first, then re-check them after clearing U.S. Customs.
Depending on the airport, the domestic baggage reclaim area may be located next to or shared with the international reclaim area, or sometimes located in the public part of the airport alongside car rental desks and airport exits, and only passengers at their final destination claim their bags here. In most large airports in the United States and in some small ones as well, the domestic baggage reclaim is located on a different floor than the ticket counter, usually lower.
In other words, its generally US and Canadian airports that are the only ones that have open baggage areas at international airports as well (due to the domestic flights), but international arrivals will always reclaim in a restricted area before exiting. The rest of the world will likely have restricted baggage areas as a rule and in my experience always do.