UK joins European deal to send rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs

Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, and Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, attending the document signing ceremony in Chişinău, Moldova, on Friday. Photograph: Dumitru Doru/EPA

The UK and 45 other European countries have signed an agreement that explicitly endorses plans to send unwanted asylum seekers to third country hubs.

A political declaration from the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR), said states had an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders.