The UK and 45 other European countries on Wednesday signed a declaration backing third-country hubs for unwanted asylum seekers, in a move that could reshape how governments try to remove people who have no right to stay. The agreement was finalised at a high-level meeting in Chişinău, Moldova, and backed by all 46 members of the Council of Europe.
The seven-page document says states have an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders and should be free “to address and potentially deter irregular migration.” It also says new approaches already envisaged by several member states include “processing requests for international protection in a third country, third country ‘return hubs’, and cooperation with countries of transit.”
The declaration matters because it is an attempt to widen the room governments say they need to deport people to places where they may face inhuman or degrading treatment, while also limiting courts’ ability to step in. Ministers have argued that articles 3 and 8 of the European convention on human rights have been used to block removals of people they say have no right to be in the UK.
But the political declaration is not the same thing as a change in the law. Madeleine Sumption said it is not clear how much impact a declaration like this will have, because judges are also guided by domestic and international case law, which the document does not change. In other words, the governments signing in Chişinău may have agreed on the language, but not on how far it will carry in court.
The meeting in the Moldovan capital comes after Italy and Albania struck an earlier deal that allowed Rome to place detention centres in Albania, later used to hold people awaiting deportation after their applications were rejected. That arrangement has become a reference point for governments looking for ways to move asylum processing beyond their own borders.
There is also a clear political split behind the legal language. The Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to leave the ECHR, while Keir Starmer backs changes to the convention. Yvette Cooper said Labour is “reforming the ECHR with partners from across the continent,” and argued that international law remains essential to law enforcement cooperation against smuggler gangs and to pillars such as the Good Friday agreement.
Cooper is expected to discuss the hubs over the next two days as European ministers turn from declaration to detail. Alain Berset said discussions about removing people who arrived in Europe by irregular routes would take place during the meeting, underlining how quickly this has become one of the central arguments in Europe’s migration fight: whether the answer is tighter borders, broader removals, or a new system that pushes more of the process outside national territory.
For now, the signatories have set out their position in principle. The harder question is whether courts, treaty obligations and the politics of removal will let that principle become practice.
