Universal Human Rights that are not so universal

101 countries around the world ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) last month.  The CRPD includes existing international human rights and applies them to persons with disabilities. This was necessary for many countries around the world that treat disabled people very poorly. The UK has signed up to this but has excluded immigrants from the ratification. This falls in line with much of the UK’s behaviour with other UN Conventions, but this particular one is quite puzzling as the point of the CRPD is to cover every disabled person. The reasoning behind the opt-out was, according to the Government, “necessary to deal with global health emergencies” and to simplify the work for the health screening programme that would be introduced later on.

Although this decision was made under the Labour government, it is up to the current coalition government to re-evaluate this decision. The UK is not the only country dealing with “global health emergencies” and yet 100 other countries have made the CRPD universal, and have included immigrants.  Amongst the 100 countries that have ratified the Convention, the UK is one of the countries that is fortunate enough to be able to handle a global health emergency with ease. For example the Immigration Rules allow a medical inspector to examine those wishing to enter the UK and can refuse if they feel it is not safe.

Additionally, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights stated that the exclusion of immigrants does not comply with international law as it leaves a group of people out of a supposedly universal Convention.  The acceptance by the EU of this Convention means that it will apply to the European Courts of Justice, which will eventually trickle down to the UK courts. So it is a matter of time before this reservation is challenged.

The UKBA has held a consultation on reviewing this decision and has yet to decide on further causes of action.