Starmer and Danish PM Propose Tougher Asylum Rules Affecting ECHR Protections
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have advocated for rewriting asylum protections to harden rules and restore confidence in leadership. Their proposals reportedly seek to reinterpret or restrict protections enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including Article 3, which bans torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and Article 8, protecting private and family life. These changes would strip protections from people fleeing war, persecution, or serious harm.
UK ministers are said to view this tougher stance as a political tactic designed to defuse public anger over asylum issues, drawing comparisons to the Brexit playbook. While Starmer affirms that the UK should remain in the ECHR, his framing has been described as echoing Nigel Farage’s view that rights hinder government control.
Justice Secretary David Lammy and Attorney General Richard Hermer traveled to Strasbourg on International Human Rights Day to highlight concerns about harms such as children separated from parents, trafficking survivors returned to abusers, and torture survivors sent back to places where they face torture. The backlog in asylum cases is attributed to mismanagement issues—such as bans on work rights, prolonged legal limbo, and expensive accommodation costs—rather than inherent rights protections.
Proposed solutions to address these challenges include establishing safe routes, ensuring faster and fair asylum decisions, clearing backlogs, enabling dignified removals for weak claims, supporting community integration, and taking international action on the root causes of displacement. Amnesty-funded polling cited by officials indicates broad public support for the equal and permanent application of human rights protections in asylum procedures.
