UK backs European plan to accelerate illegal migration removals

UK backs European plan to accelerate illegal migration removals24 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleDominic CascianiHome and Legal CorrespondentReutersThe UK and other European countries have signed a landmark declaration pushing courts to rethink how they decide on migration cases, in a bid to make it easier to deport illegal migrants.The agreement, unveiled at a summit in Moldova on Friday, warns that European democracy itself could be undermined unless states are able to respond more effectively to people smuggling and modern migration pressures.It urges the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to leave most migration cases to member states.Speaking ahead of the summit, UK 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 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was drafted after the Second World War to set out basic rights and freedoms across Europe and is enforced by the Strasbourg court.The new declaration is not a rewriting of the human rights law - which would take years - but is a political signal from all the member states to human rights judges that there needs to be greater consideration for public interest and democracy when deciding on migration cases.It was signed by the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the political body which oversees the human rights court and is entirely separate to the European Union.The document says pressures facing European countries have either changed significant or were unforeseen at the time the human rights convention was drafted.It states have "the undeniable sovereign right" to establish their own immigration policies and remove foreign nationals in the public interest. Critics of Friday's declaration said the wording will undermine human rights protections or have no effect on migration because judges could ignore it. CoEUK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper mee...