UK backs human rights plan to accelerate illegal migration removals at Moldova summit

The document underlines that the right to family life does not automatically bar deportation and that national authorities, not Strasbourg, should carry out the balancing between individual rights and public interests like freedom and security.

The declaration states that the quality of accessible healthcare in the receiving state should only give rise to a real risk of inhuman treatment in very exceptional circumstances, thereby allowing deportations to proceed more easily when such risks are not present.

Critics argued that the wording could undermine human rights protections or have no practical effect if judges ignore it.

The document notes that Italy has already struck a deal with Albania to accommodate rejected migrants there, and that the UK has been exploring similar deals, though nothing concrete has been announced.

It states that member states have the 'undeniable sovereign right' to establish their own immigration policies and remove foreign nationals in the public interest.

The declaration states that it is not a rewriting of human rights law, but rather a political signal from member states to human rights judges that greater consideration for public interest and democracy is needed when deciding migration cases.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described the deal as a 'common-sense approach' and said she wants to ensure systems 'can't be unfairly gamed'.

The UK and other European countries signed a landmark declaration at a Moldova summit that urges courts to rethink how migration cases are decided, with aims to ease deportations of illegal migrants. It warns that European democracy could be undermined unless states respond more effectively to people smuggling and modern migration pressures, and it urges the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to leave most migration cases to member states.

In 2023 the UK Supreme Court held that the previous government's Rwanda asylum policy was unlawful because it failed to treat genuine refugees fairly.