Johnson warns that Ukrainians who enter the country illegally may be deported to Rwanda

Ukrainian refugees who enter the UK illegally may be deported to Rwanda, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned. In the midst of controversy over the agreement between the two countries, which has also been rejected by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Johnson recalled that entering the country irregularly can lead to deportation to that African country.

Johnson had previously assured that Ukrainian citizens would not be affected by the agreement, which in principle allows British authorities to send asylum seekers who cross the English Channel to the African country. “The only circumstances in which asylum seekers can be sent to Rwanda is if they arrive in the UK illegally, which undermines the security and legal routes we have. We are giving about 130,000 visas to Ukrainians and they have at least two good routes to get to the country“, has explained.

However, he has clarified that “if they come illegally, they go over all those who do it legally”, so“in theory, they could be deported.” “However, I think this is highly unlikely,” he said, according to newspaper information Guardian.

Johnson traveled to Rwanda on Thursday, where he has met with the country’s authorities and urged NATO and the G7 countries to avoid agreeing to a “bad peace” for Ukraine. In this sense, he clarified that it is important that the end of the war does not imply “ceding territory” of Ukraine to Russia.

“My message to colleagues in the G7 and in NATO in particular is going to be ‘now is not the time to settle and encourage the Ukrainians to settle for a bad peace, a peace for which they are invited to give up parts of their territory in exchange for a ceasefire. I think it would be a disaster. It would be a trigger for further escalation by Putin whenever he wanted to,” he said.

Johnson promised to start sending thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda in May after raising concerns about the growing number of small boats ferrying asylum seekers across the English Channel. Earlier this month, the inaugural flight was abandoned after a dramatic last minute ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).