00:00The Council of Europe's Secretary-General Alain Berset told Euronews that he understands the concerns behind calls to constrain the European Convention on Human Rights over Migration.
00:12However, he said the method they used was wrong.
00:16Last year, nine European countries published a joint letter calling for a reinterpretation of human rights laws to facilitate migrant deportations.
00:26Berset reiterated his criticism of their approach.
00:30It is clear that migration is an issue and a concern in the majority of the member states.
00:34And if it is a concern, it is logic, only logic that we are able to have some platforms where it is possible to address this at the political level.
00:42But I was clear with this intervention, this letter, the way they choose to act is wrong.
00:48It is not possible and not good to start making political pressure on the court.
00:52What would you say if, well, when a tribunal in a country is taking a decision, if it is not in the sense what the government was expecting, that the government will make a pressure on it, please change your decision?
01:06When asked whether reviewing the Convention could be a slippery slope, Berset warned that it could embolden other governments to roll back human rights.
01:15He stressed that caution should prevail as talks continue at a political level.
01:21What will happen now with migration, it would be possible for other countries to make the same, to choose the same way, maybe to put in discussion all the rights.
01:32You know, I also told this to some of the exponents, they wanted to have migration discussed.
01:36And I was just telling them, OK, at the political level, but we must be really careful because we have maybe all the countries ready to open the same kind of discussion on the rights.
01:46And maybe then we won't agree about this.
01:49Berset convened an informal ministerial conference on the matter in December and a political declaration is expected in May 2026.
01:58However, Berset said there is not yet a consensus on what, if any, changes should be made.
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