UK may withdraw from ECHR

By Alimat Aliyeva

The UK may withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if it helps to stop the flow of illegal migrants, Azernews reports, citing British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying as in an interview with The Sun newspaper.

Thus, he commented on the decision of the ECHR, because of which in the summer of 2022 the first planned flight from the UK to Rwanda with illegal immigrants on board was canceled a few minutes before takeoff.

"I am sure that ensuring border security and controlling illegal migration is more important than maintaining membership in any foreign court, as this is fundamental to our sovereignty," R. Sunak said.

The publication notes that for the first time in less than a year and a half of his premiership, Rishi Sunak made a statement about the possibility of termination of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has been in force since 1953. Before him, Boris Johnson, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 2019 to 2022, allowed the possibility of termination of the ECHR. He pointed out that the main goal of British migration policy is to combat criminal groups that illegally smuggle people into the country across the English Channel, putting their lives in danger.

On June 14, 2022, the British authorities were forced at the last minute to cancel the departure of the first plane with illegal immigrants to Rwanda, which agreed to accept asylum seekers deported from the UK. The reason was the order of the ECHR, which followed a request from several British human rights organizations.

In January 2024, the British House of Commons approved a bill allowing London to expel illegal immigrants to Rwanda. The initiative provides that it is in this African country that illegal immigrants will wait for the results of the consideration of applications for asylum in the UK. Now the House of Lords must consider the draft.