A UK-backed push to overhaul European human rights laws could allow the government to fast-track the deportations of failed asylum seekers.
At a meeting of the Council of Europe on Wednesday, the UK was one of 27 nations calling for tough changes to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to permit more deportations and extraditions.
Leaders said article 3 of the ECHR – freedom against torture and inhuman treatment – should be “constrained to the most serious issues”.
This “absolute right” must not prevent the removal of foreign criminals or delay extradition cases because, for example, they argue they face subpar health or prison conditions, they said.
And article 8 – the right to a private and family life – should be reinterpreted to allow nations to expel criminals convicted of serious crimes even if they have family ties in their host country.
It is often used by people appealing against their deportation, who claim their family would struggle to remain together or if there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the family.
According to House of Commons library research, there were around 61,000 ECHR appeals that were successful in the first-tier immigration tribunal between 2015 to 2024.
The statement said countries should not be prevented from entering into deals with a third-party country, such as the failed Rwanda-style migration agreement proposed by the Conservative government or the ongoing talks between UK and Kosovo about return hubs.
And it suggested that the ECHR must be overhauled to combat the manipulation of migration by “hostile states” to destabilise other countries
Ahead of the meeting, attended by Justice Secretary David Lammy, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen warned the interpretation of ECHR needed to change to allow leaders to get a grip on the issue.
Starmer’s government has launched a pilot “one-in, one-out” deal with the French government under which anyone who crosses the Channel in a small boat will be returned to France, in exchange for the UK accepting an asylum seeker.
The scheme was dismissed as a “smokescreen” by French right-wing leader Jordan Bardella, who told the Daily Telegraph he would rewrite policy to allow British boats to physically push back migrant dinghies if he were elected President.
The National Rally leader and French MEP is currently leading in opinion polls to win the first round of France’s next presidential elections, expected in 2027.
Starmer’s spokesman said the government would “always listen to proposals to reduce crossings” and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper did not rule out “pushing back” migrant boats. “We will look at any mechanism that can work effectively and also can work safely,” she told Politico.
Leaders across Europe are seeking solutions to the challenge of irregular migration, and the statement calling for more radical changes was signed by the likes of Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Ireland, as well as the UK.
But Germany, France and Spain did not support the harder line, which went further than the political agreement signed by all 46 member states.
In the official statement, backed by all nations, leaders called for a new approach to dealing with irregular migration and foreign criminals while recommitting to the protections of human rights.
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The action was described as an “important first step forward together” by Council of Europe secretary general Alain Berset.
It will form the basis for a formal political declaration that is due to be adopted in May of next year.
But the countries pushing for a tougher stance said that failing to respond to the challenges robustly “risk[s] undermining the very fundamental rights and freedoms that the Convention protects, thereby eroding confidence in the whole Convention system”.
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