The UK Home Office has come up with a new scheme, which rights campaigners have said treats people fleeing conflict and persecution as criminals.

Under this 12-month trial program that began on Wednesday, some refugees that arrived in the UK on small boats will be electronically tagged.

Boris Johnson defended the plans on Saturday and said it was being implemented so people do not "vanish" into the rest of the country.

According to the scheme, asylum seekers will have to report in person on a regular basis to authorities, may be subject to curfews and excluded from going to certain areas. If they fail to abide by them, then they may be returned to detention or prosecuted.

The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, called it appalling that the UK government "is intent on treating men, women, and children who have fled war, bloodshed and persecution as criminals.

The UK's contentious Rwanda policy

In mid-April, the United Kingdom and Rwanda signed a migration agreement under which people identified by the UK government as illegal migrants or asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda for document processing, asylum, and relocation. Human rights organizations and some politicians have criticized the plan, claiming that it will not stop the illegal migration flow from France via the English Channel.

The first flight carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda as part of a contentious UK policy was canceled on Friday, dealing an embarrassment to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government.

Johnson said on Saturday that he was proud of this new scheme and that it was important to distinguish between people coming into the UK illegally and the UK being a welcoming country.

"That is what we are doing with our Rwanda policy. That is what we are doing with making sure that asylum seekers can’t just vanish into the rest of the country"

The BBC reported that the first people to be tagged under the program were likely those who avoided removal to Rwanda for processing.