The UK government have been forced to cancel the first flight scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda following last-minute intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The flight – which had seven people on board – was scheduled to depart at 10:30pm last night (June 15) but was called off minutes before take-off after a ECHR ruling said the plans carried “a real risk of irreversible harm.”
It comes after a controversial agreement between the UK and Rwanda was announced in April. As part of the deal, people who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the East African country in exchange for Rwanda receiving development aid. Deportees will be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda would help stop smugglers from sending them across the English Channel in unsafe vessels.
The plan has sparked outrage across the country, with leaders of the Church of England calling the policy “immoral”. The legality of the Rwanda policy will be tested in a full court hearing next month.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “disappointed” with the cancellation of the first scheduled flight but will not be “deterred from doing the right thing.”
She added: “Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.”
[Image: DaisyCooil via Shutterstock]