Overview
- Twenty-seven of the Council of Europe’s 46 members, including the UK, backed an unofficial statement urging a narrower definition of inhuman or degrading treatment and tighter limits on family-life claims in deportation cases.
- The joint text says states should be free to cooperate with third countries on asylum and returns, provided human rights are preserved.
- France, Spain and Germany declined to sign the 27-state text and instead supported a separate, all-member declaration, highlighting clear divisions over how to balance migration control and rights.
- Council of Europe secretary-general Alain Berset said all 46 governments reaffirmed their commitment to the convention and court, with a political declaration to be prepared next spring as a first step.
- UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the Strasbourg meeting the ECHR must not block action on illegal migration, while rights advocates and the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner warned against weakening absolute protections, particularly under Article 3.