Planned flight with asylum seekers to Rwanda stopped – government preparing new attempt

The European Court of Human Rights has intervened. The British government wants to take action.

The first planned deportation flight from Great Britain to Rwanda with asylum seekers of different nationalities was stopped by a court shortly before departure. The British Home Office confirmed this to the BBC after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg thwarted the British government’s plans with a rare intervention. There is “a real risk of irreversible harm” for the asylum seekers concerned, the court found.

Because of legal objections, the flight tickets of the last remaining asylum seekers to be deported were also canceled, the Care4Calais organization said on Twitter. Originally, 130 deportations were targeted. In the end, the British authorities booked 31 tickets. According to Care4Calais, these tickets were gradually canceled due to pending legal decisions.

However, the British government is sticking to the planned deportation flights even after the temporary stop. Labor Minister Therese Coffey told Sky News on Wednesday that action would certainly be taken against the judges’ verdict. “The most important thing is that we tackle the matter immediately.” Great Britain is already preparing a new attempt for a flight.

“I can’t say exactly how many people will be on board,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday, when only a handful of deportations were planned. “The really important thing is that we introduce the principle.” A little later, however, the European Court of Human Rights also intervened – and now apparently overturned the whole action.

The court had initially asked Great Britain not to fly an Iraqi asylum seeker to Rwanda for the time being. The court’s decision was made on Tuesday evening, shortly before the man was to be taken to the East African country with other people.

All of the other men involved with the precedent then filed suit in British courts, and the flight was halted.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “disappointed” but wasn’t deterred. The next deportation flight is already being prepared.

British court allowed government to go ahead

In a so-called interim measure, the court asked the British authorities to take the men out of the country no earlier than three weeks after a final decision in the ongoing proceedings in Great Britain. The court should be informed of the final decision. According to the court, interim measures are binding and are only imposed rarely and when there is an imminent risk of irreparable damage.

A British court in London had previously ruled that the flight could take off as scheduled – but announced that it would review the new legislation again. If it is not legal, those affected could come back to Great Britain from Rwanda.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed that he would not deviate from his new asylum plan. It was always clear to him that its implementation would involve a long road with many legal hurdles.

Britain has signed an agreement with Rwanda in a bid to crack down on irregular migration. People who have entered the UK illegally, regardless of their nationality or origin, should be brought into the country and given the opportunity to apply for asylum there. Even if they are recognized as refugees there, there should never be a return to Great Britain. The United Nations sees this as a breach of international law and a dangerous precedent.

The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, France, is part of the Council of Europe. The bodies that are independent of the European Union work together to protect human rights in the 46 member states.