Keir Starmer and Europe’s hardline governments risk creating a “hierarchy of people” as they seek to address migration by curbing fundamental rights, Europe’s most senior human rights official has said. Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, said that “middle-of-the-road politicians” are playing into the hands of the populist right.
Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, he pointed to the “lazy correlation” of migration and crime as an example. “This doesn’t correspond with reality,” he said. “For every inch yielded, there’s going to be another inch demanded. Where does it stop? For example, the focus right now is on migrants, in large part. But who is it going to be about next time around?”
O’Flaherty said it is “very important” that politicians point out the significance of the European Convention on Human Rights’ core principles, such as that people are equal in terms of the universality of human rights. “The idea that we would create or foster the impression of a hierarchy of people, some more deserving than others, is a very, very worrying one indeed,” he said.
His comments come after 27 of the 46 Council of Europe members, including the UK, Hungary and Italy, signed an unofficial statement that urges a new framework for the convention, which will narrow the definition of “inhuman and degrading treatment”. The statement argues that article 3 of the convention should be “constrained to the most serious issues” to allow the expulsion of foreign criminals, and that article 8 should be “adjusted” to give more weight to the nature of the offence over a criminal’s ties with the host country.
Senior Labour figures have expressed concern. Lord Alf Dubs said: “I’m worried it will be the thin edge of the wedge and just about taking human rights away from people.” Baroness Shami Chakrabarti said: “To ‘reinterpret’ or justify inhuman and degrading treatment is to strike at the very heart of postwar rights and freedoms.” Veronika Fikfak, a professor at University College London, warned the changes “will not primarily affect migrants, but those who need medical attention and those who find themselves in harsh prison conditions”.
