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Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
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Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace
Member of the Ansar Allah Political Bureau, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti: The Israeli aggression on Yemen will not deter us from continuing to support Gaza, no matter the sacrifices
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Israeli aggression targeted the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street, southwest of the capital, Sanaa, with several raids

Johnson: Ukrainians who come to UK illegally could be sent to Rwanda

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Guardian
  • 24 Jun 2022 11:27
4 Min Read

UK PM Boris Johnson says Ukrainian refugees traveling to the UK without authorization may be sent to Rwanda.

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  • Boris Johnson visited the GS Kacyiru II school on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda (Getty)
    Boris Johnson visited the GS Kacyiru II school on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda (Getty)

In an escalation of his government's plans to deport those crossing into the UK to seek sanctuary, PM Boris Johnson has said that Ukrainian refugees entering the UK without authorization may be deported to Rwanda.

Johnson defended, on Thursday, his contentious deal to deport migrants  to Rwanda, urging critics to "keep an open mind."

It is worth noting that the London-Kigali scheme, which involves Britain deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda thousands of miles away, has sparked outrage.

The migrant arrangement has been strongly condemned by rights groups, church leaders, and the United Nations, not to mention that it threatens to overshadow this week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

One of the most outspoken opponents is the British heir to the throne, Prince Charles, who has been quoted in the British media as calling it "appalling".

Johnson had previously said the prospect of Ukrainian refugees being sent to Rwanda was "simply not going to happen."

However, when asked ahead of the CHOGM meeting on whether Ukrainians arriving to the UK by boat may be deported to East Africa, he said:  “The only circumstances in which people will be sent to Rwanda would be if they come to the UK illegally," adding moments later "if you come here illegally, you’re undermining all those who come here legally. And it’s crazy. So I’m afraid the answer is I suppose, yes, in theory that could happen. But I think it’s very unlikely.”

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UK and Ukrainian refugees

Critics of the UK government's response to the war have said that the UK in fact takes in fewer Ukrainians per capita than most of Europe.

“In stark contrast to the British public who have opened their doors to welcome Ukrainians in desperate search of safety, our prime minister has confirmed that the government is intent on treating them as human cargo to be transported from the UK to Rwanda," Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council said regarding Johnson's statements.

The first flight carrying migrants was scheduled for June 14, following the rejection of a lawsuit filed by human rights activists seeking to halt the government's decision to send illegal migrants to Rwanda. According to the court's statement, the flight was canceled after the ECHR ruled that an Iraqi migrant involved might face "a real risk of irreversible harm."

Rwanda's government announced that it has already begun spending the 120 million pound downpayment given by the UK on the asylum scheme, as the government's spokesperson said that part of it was spent to prepare accommodations to receive the first batch of migrants that was supposed to arrive on the 14th.

Meanwhile, to counter the EHCR's decision, Britain began legislating for a new bill of rights on Wednesday, which would state unequivocally that Britain's Supreme Court, which approved the Rwanda flights, had legal supremacy and that ECHR judgments did not necessarily have to be followed by British courts.

According to the Ministry of Justice, it would certify that injunctions ordered by the ECHR under Rule 39, which halted the Rwandan flight, were not binding.

Stephanie Boyce, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said it would create an acceptable class of human rights violations, while Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, said it was unsurprising that politicians held accountable by human rights laws wanted them removed.

"This is not about tinkering with rights. It's about removing them," Deshmukh said.

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Russia & NATO

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As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

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