Cooper to crack down on ECHR family asylum claims

Telegraph

2 days ago

Ministers are to restrict the powers of judges to grant asylum under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), amid concerns that a third of cases are now being approved for 'exceptional' reasons.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, told MPs that rejecting Home Office attempts to remove foreign criminals and illegal migrants in 30 per cent of cases was 'not exceptional'.
She pledged that the Government would draw up a 'clear framework' for judges to ensure that their decisions on whether to allow migrants to stay in the UK better reflects 'what I think the public would want to see'.
The move follows The Telegraph's disclosure of cases over the past four months in which judges have cited 'exceptional' reasons, largely under ECHR Article 8, which guarantees the right to family life, to block deportations of foreign criminals or illegal migrants.
In one example, a Palestinian family of six from Gaza was granted the right to live in the UK after applying through a scheme meant for Ukrainian refugees.
The judge claimed the Palestinians' case was so 'compelling or exceptional' that they had the right to a family life with a relative in the UK under the ECHR, even though it was outside the rules of the Ukrainian refugee scheme.
In another case, a Pakistani man jailed for child sexual offences escaped deportation because it would be 'unduly harsh' on his children. A lower tier judge ruled that his 'exceptional' rehabilitation and 'strong family life' were compelling reasons not to remove him.
'The system around family migration has become so complex. The proportion of decisions being taken as exceptional, often under interpretations around the ECHR, around particularly Article 8, end up being about 30 per cent of the cases,' Ms Cooper told the Commons home affairs committee.
'That is not exceptional, that is a much broader proportion. That reflects some of the complexity of the system, and the way in which decisions have been based on a series of court decisions, as opposed to having a clear framework set out by Parliament that then can be much easier for the courts to interpret, and much more reflect what the public would want to see.'
The Government is expected to introduce legislation to set out 'common sense' rules clarifying how judges interpret the ECHR and strengthen the public interest test for courts.
Ms Cooper, however, rejected calls by some MPs to disapply the ECHR in immigration cases, saying it would hamper the UK's ability to negotiate with other EU countries when tackling people-smuggling gangs.
'Part of the way in which we have been able to build up that much stronger cooperation is also by saying we recognise we will continue to comply with international law,' she said.
Ms Cooper also said the Government wanted everyone coming into the UK to have a digital ID so that they could be tracked and removed if they overstayed their visas.
'We are particularly looking at how we have digital ID for everyone coming to the UK,' she said.
'We want to have a digital service linked to e-visas and linked to our border management process, to be able to determine whether an individual is in or out of the UK, whether they have let at the point at which their visa expires or whether they are overstaying and immigration enforcement action is needed.'
New deal
Ms Cooper also said the Government 'would like to see' a new deal with the EU where migrants could be returned from the UK.
It would replace the pre-Brexit Dublin Agreement, which allowed the UK to return migrants to EU countries through which they had passed and where they should have claimed asylum.
She hinted that she was still pushing for extra money for the police in the spending review talks with Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
'We will always want more investment around policing and meeting the challenges they face. That includes challenges from the sentencing review, challenges from different patterns of crime as well,' she said.