All 46 Council of Europe members sign the agreement being ‘deplored’ by human rights organisations.
The UK, besides 45 other European countries, has signed an agreement which explicitly endorses plans to return unwanted asylum seekers to 3rd country hubs.
A political declaration from the 46-member forum of the Council of Europe, the governing body that oversees the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), stated that states had an ‘undeniable sovereign right’ to control their borders.
The UK is currently pursuing a deal with a third country. This would be similar to the Italy-Albania agreement, which permitted Rome to establish detention centres in Albania.
In the aforementioned Italian deal, the hubs were initially intended for asylum seekers from countries deemed safe while their applications were being processed. Georgia Meloni’s government has since exploited this facility to hold people to be deported after their applications were rejected.
Guided by the 7-page document, countries should have the freedom to address and potentially deter irregular migration.
It stated, ‘Amongst the forms of new approaches that have been envisaged by several member states are processing requests for international protection in a 3rd country, ‘return hubs’ & cooperation with countries of transit.’
The agreement also intends to give more scope for countries to deport people to places where they may be in danger of inhuman or degrading treatment. This is besides the limitation of the courts’ powers to intervene.
Ministers say that articles 3 and 8 of the convention, which protect against torture and guarantee family life, have been misused in the UK to prevent the removal of people with no right to be there.
The agreement added that ‘caution may need to be exercised…that’s when assessing if the expulsion or extradition of an individual to a non-state party may violate a state’s obligation under article 3 of the convention.’
