Rwanda Asylum Flight Cancelled After Legal Action

A plane reported by British media to be first to transport migrants to Rwanda is seen at MOD Boscombe Down base in Wiltshire, Britain, June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The first flight from the United Kingdom to Rwanda was canceled on Tuesday due to a last-minute legal battle.

Up to seven people were supposed to be relocated to the east African country.

However, the flight was halted following an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “disappointed” but would not be deterred and the “preparation for the next flight begins now”.

The flight was canceled after a UK court ruled that it could fly, and after a series of legal challenges in the UK failed.

The plane was scheduled to take off at 22:30 BST from a military airport in Wiltshire, but all passengers were removed after a series of linked decisions from the ECtHR in Strasbourg and courts in London.

In a statement hours before the flight’s planned departure, the ECtHR said it had granted an “urgent interim measure” in the case of an Iraqi man, known only as “KN”.

It said such requests were only granted on an “exceptional basis, when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm”.

That decision contradicted a ruling by judges in London, who had found no immediate risk to those being sent to Rwanda.

The ECtHR oversees a range of human rights laws to which the UK is a signatory, along with other nations. It is separate from the European Union.