"I believe that all plans are compliant with all of our international obligations, including the ECHR, but I do believe that border security and making sure that we can control illegal migration is more important than membership of a foreign court because it’s fundamental to our sovereignty as a country," Sunak told The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots politics show on Wednesday.
The newspaper reported that it is the strongest warning yet to "meddling Strasbourg judges" who blocked the first deportation flight to Rwanda in 2022.
Rwanda and the UK signed a migration agreement in 2022, under which people identified by the UK government as undocumented migrants or asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. The scheme has drawn criticism from human rights organizations, as well as numerous politicians and officials within the UK.
The first deportation flight was supposed to take place in June 2022 but never happened due to the intervention of the ECHR, which ruled it unlawful. The UK government had to draft a new deal last year after the UK Supreme Court determined that the initial scheme did not guarantee the safety of asylum seekers.