Dozens of European nations sign off on new interpretation of rights convention in migration cases
BRUSSELS (AP) — Forty-six countries in Europe and beyond agreed Friday on a new interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights in immigration cases, including how it applies to the controversial use of deportation centers set up in third countries.
The political declaration follows calls from some member states for tougher approaches to tackling irregular migration and facilitating deportations.
Human rights groups criticized the political declaration, saying it could relax torture bans and weaken Europe’s human rights protections for immigrants
“The declaration underlines that states have an undeniable sovereign right to control the entry and residence of foreign nationals and that protecting their borders in accordance with the Convention is both a necessity and an obligation for states,” the European Council said in a statement following the non-binding declaration adopted by all foreign ministers of 46 member states at a meeting in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on Friday. he said.
Countries “exposed to mass arrivals” could pursue new approaches to deter irregular migration, including “cooperation with third country ‘return centres’ and transit countries”, the report said.
The council oversees the European Court of Human Rights, the continent’s highest court upholding the human rights convention.
Chiara Catelli, a spokeswoman for Brussels-based rights group PICUM, said the declaration could weaken both the court and the convention.
“Governments are effectively seeking to pressure an independent Tribunal to weaken long-established human rights protections to facilitate deportation, putting people at risk of sending them to a place where they could be tortured, inhumane or degrading treatment, or unable to receive life-saving medical care,” he said.
“A two-tier human rights system based on migration status is an affront to the fundamental principle that human rights are universal,” said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
Italy sent several dozen immigrants to Italy who did not have permission to stay in the country. A “return center” in Albania Last year, it became the first European Union country to send rejected migrants to a country outside the EU where neither they nor they transited during their journey.
Human rights advocates say such policies are inhumane, comparing them to US President Donald Trump’s deportation policies.
The EU has steadily tightened its migration policies After right-wing parties come to power in some countries in 2024.
Last year, leaders of nine European Union countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) signed an agreement. open letter Claiming that the charter of rights prevents them from deporting foreign criminals.
The Nations argued that the court’s interpretation of the convention “in cases concerning the deportation of foreign national criminals” protected the “wrong people” and placed too many restrictions on deciding who could be deported.
European Union migration commissioner Magnus Brunner hailed the declaration as an “important step” towards a united migration policy.
“This strengthens our approach to a fair and sound migration policy in Europe. Migration is a common problem that requires common solutions,” he said.
Following the signing of the declaration, Council Secretary General Alain Berset said that the Chisinau Declaration “will guide our own work as well as that of national authorities and local courts.”
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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.
