Council of Europe members adopt nonbinding declaration on Convention rights in deportation cases

Forty-six member states of the Council of Europe have adopted a nonbinding political declaration that calls for a renewed interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights in migration cases, potentially making it easier for governments to pursue some deportations, including to third-country “return hubs.” The declaration was agreed Friday at a meeting of foreign ministers in Chisinau, Moldova, where member states said they are responding to mounting migration pressure and seeking greater clarity on how specific Convention protections apply in practice.

The text emphasizes that states have a sovereign right to decide who may enter and reside on their territories and that border control is an obligation as well as a necessity under the Convention. It says countries facing large migrant arrivals may consider new approaches to deter irregular migration, including cooperation with transit and third countries and the use of return hubs for people whose asylum claims have failed.

The declaration focuses on Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention, which cover protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to private and family life. On Article 3, the...