All posts tagged: ECHR

UK joins European deal to send rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs

UK joins European deal to send rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs

Published by Sam Flores

The UK and 45 other European countries have signed an agreement that explicitly endorses plans to send unwanted asylum seekers to third country hubs. A political declaration from the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR), said states had an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders. It is understood that the UK is now seeking a deal with an unnamed third country, similar to the Italy-Albania agreement that allowed Rome to place detention centres in Albania. In that deal, the hubs were initially intended for asylum seekers from countries considered safe while their applications were processed. Giorgia Meloni’s government has since used them to hold people to be deported whose applications have been rejected. According to the seven-page document, countries should be free “to address and potentially deter irregular migration”. It said: “Amongst the forms of new approaches that have been envisaged by several member states are processing requests for international protection in a third country, third country ‘return hubs’, and cooperation with …

Quitting ECHR would group Britain with Russia, rights chief warns – POLITICO

Quitting ECHR would group Britain with Russia, rights chief warns – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“And I think this was the wrong start. In which country would we accept that? Someone creating really a brutal pressure on a court? We would say, no, you need to discuss this at the political level. My goal was to bring this back to Strasbourg and to address this at the political level.” Not our role Berset also warned that reforming the convention would not solve countries’ own internal debates on migration. “Is this able to bring an answer to the concerns and challenges that the U.K. is facing in the migration discussions? I think yes, partly. When we see that there are concerns, they must be better addressed. But it will never be able to solve the internal discussion on migration. … But it’s not our role to have a direct impact on that,” he said. Berset noted that most U.K. migration cases invoking human rights do not actually end up at the European Court in Strasbourg, but are usually examples of British domestic courts interpreting the treaty’s rights on their own. British …

Stop ‘nonsensical objections’ to leaving ECHR, Jack Straw tells PM

Stop ‘nonsensical objections’ to leaving ECHR, Jack Straw tells PM

Published by Sam Flores

A former Labour home secretary has told Sir Keir Starmer to stop making “nonsensical” objections to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Jack Straw, who also served as foreign secretary and justice secretary, said it was wrong to argue Britain would be in the same “club” as Belarus or Russia if it withdrew from the treaty. Sir Keir has pledged that he will never leave the ECHR and will treat international law with “profound respect”. Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, has claimed that withdrawing from the convention would align Britain with Russia and Belarus. But Mr Straw, who served under Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, dismissed this argument as “nonsensical”, insisting that leaving the ECHR voluntarily was different to being forced out. The ECHR is an international treaty that can only be signed by members of the Council of Europe. It is applied by the European Court of Human Rights. Jack Straw has also said that British judges are better than those linked to the European Court of Human Rights – Oli …