The deal involves paying Rwanda to process migrants who enter the UK illegally, with the aim of deterring crossings of the English Channel from France.

The UN refugee agency criticized the agreement for potentially violating international law.

The agreement resembles Italy's deal to outsource asylum-seeker processing to Albania.

Human rights groups argue that both deals, forged by conservative governments amid anti-migrant sentiment, infringe upon the international refugee conventions' protections for migrants' rights.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) criticized the UK-Rwanda asylum deal, stating it is not compatible with international refugee law as it bypasses the established international refugee protection system and undermines global solidarity.

The UK's Interior Minister defended the deal as a necessary response to the problem of migrant smuggling and changing migration patterns.

He acknowledged the UNHCR's criticism and assured that Britain would respect the UN's laws while addressing the issue innovatively.

The Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Preti, visited the Italian coast guard headquarters and the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, where tens of thousands of migrants have arrived after crossing the Mediterranean Sea from northern Africa.

Lampedusa is a common destination for migrants due to its proximity to Africa.

Last year, Italy saw 157,652 new arrivals, but the numbers have decreased this year due to an EU-endorsed agreement with Tunisia to reduce departures.

As of Tuesday, 16,090 migrants had arrived by sea in Italy this year, compared to 36,324 in the same period last year.

The Italian government takes the issue seriously but may not always agree with assessments made by others.

Spain has seen more migrant sea arrivals than Italy in 2023, with a total of 16,621 as of April 15.

In contrast, the UK had 45,774 arrivals in 2022 but only 29,437 in 2021, making the numbers in the Mediterranean significantly higher.