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The UK has joined some of Europe’s hardline governments in calling for human rights laws to be “constrained” to allow Rwanda-style migration deals with third countries and more foreign criminals to be deported.
Twenty-seven of the 46 Council of Europe members including the UK, Hungary and Italy have signed an unofficial statement that also urges a new framework for the European convention of human rights, which will also narrow the definition of “inhuman and degrading treatment”.
The statement follows a meeting of the council in Strasbourg on Wednesday as part of a push to change the way the laws apply in migration cases.
The UK’s deputy prime minister, David Lammy, attended the meeting and was expected to argue that the rules must not stop countries tackling the problem of illegal migration.
France, Spain and Germany are among those countries that have declined to sign the statement, instead putting their names to a separate, official declaration backed by all 46 governments.
The two separate statements are signs of deep divisions across Europe over how to tackle irregular migration, and whether to continue to guarantee rights for refugees and economic migrants.
The letter signed by 27 countries said that article 3 of the convention, which bans “inhuman or degrading treatment” should be “constrained to the most serious issues in a manner which does not prevent states parties from taking proportionate decisions on the expulsion of foreign criminals … including in cases raising issues concerning healthcare and prison conditions”.
It also argues that article 8 of the convention should be “adjusted” in relation to criminals so that more weight is put on the nature and seriousness of the offence committed and less on a criminal’s ties with the host country.
In a hint towards European deals with third countries that are willing to house rejected asylum seekers, the statement says: “A sate party should not be prevented from entering into cooperation with third countries regarding asylum and return procedures, once the human rights of irregular migrants are preserved.”
The rest of the 27 signatories are: Denmark, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine.
The separate, formal declaration signed by all member states does not outline any problems with particular articles of the convention.
The chief of the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR) said ministers had taken an “important first step forward together” to agree a political declaration on migration and the ECHR, and support a new recommendation to deter smuggling of migrants “with full respect for human rights”.
The Council of Europe secretary general, Alain Berset, told reporters: “All 46 member states have reaffirmed their deep and abiding commitment to both the European convention on human rights and the European court of human rights.
“This is not rhetoric. This is a political decision of the highest order. But ministers have also expressed their concerns regarding the unprecedented challenges posed by migration and the serious questions governments face in maintaining societies that deliver for citizens.”
Labour’s poll ratings have plummeted since the general election, with the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK partly caused by concerns about the impact of immigration – both authorised and through small boat crossings of the Channel.
Labour, unlike the Tories and Reform UK, are committed to remaining within the ECHR, which was drawn up in the aftermath of the second world war.
In a Guardian column, the British prime mnister and his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, acknowledged the “current asylum framework was created for another era”, adding: “In a world with mass mobility, yesterday’s answers do not work. We will always protect those fleeing war and terror – but the world has changed and asylum systems must change with it.”
