British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on European leaders to change human rights laws to make it easier to deport immigrants from the country, writes the BBC.
The government has already announced plans to limit the ability of asylum seekers to use the family life clause in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is used to avoid deportation. Now Starmer has called on ECHR member states to change their laws to make it easier to fight people smugglers and set up “return hubs” for people who have no right to be in Europe. Britain’s Conservatives and Reform Party have called for a complete withdrawal from the ECHR, but the Prime Minister is instead calling for changes to the law to meet the challenges posed by mass migration.
Starmer, in an article published in The Guardian, said the convention needed urgent changes to counter the growing “forces of hatred and division” in Europe. He said he was in favour of listening to real concerns and taking action to address them: “That’s not empty populism, it’s democracy. We are determined to show that our societies can act with compassion while upholding law and order, and fairness.”
Critics have said the ECHR prevents more illegal immigrants from being deported, while supporters of the convention have said the ECHR’s role in migration cases has been overstated.
The talks in Strasbourg are expected to tackle complex issues, including the fight against people smugglers
and how to set up “return centres” that comply with human rights standards. The ECHR article that Starmer invoked, which covers the right to family life, and the article on inhuman treatment, which is often linked to migration cases, will also be discussed.
The aim of the talks is to get the convention’s parties to a political declaration by spring that will set out how the ECHR applies to migration cases. If agreed, it would be the biggest change to human rights law in the convention’s 75-year history. The Strasbourg meeting follows months of pressure to address migration issues. Nine convention parties, led by Italy and Denmark, have called for reforms this year. Britain did not sign the open letter at the time, but has been a long-time advocate for reforms behind the scenes.
Both conservatives and populists have indicated that Britain will withdraw from the convention if their parties win the next election.
Britain’s announced home affairs plan includes changes to the law that governs how the clause on the right to family life applies in deportation cases.
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