The United Kingdom canceled a flight at the last minute that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda last night after the European Court of Human Rights intervened.
The European Court of Human Rights said the British plan carried “a real risk of irreversible harm.”
The decision to scrap the flight came after three days of frantic court challenges from immigrant rights lawyers. They launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals in order to hopefully block the deportation of everyone that was on the government’s list.
British government officials said earlier on Tuesday that the plane would take off, no matter how many people were on board the flight. It was supposed to contain more than 30 people as of Friday. But the appeals were so successful that no one remained on the plane.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was disappointed that the flight was canceled but would not be “deterred from doing the right thing.”
Most people in the UK believe she is doing just the opposite by insisting on deporting asylum seekers.
Patel is under intense and extreme criticism from the British public, as well as human rights experts and immigration experts. Patel is being labeled as blatantly racist.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also defended the plan, causing him to be under fire for this as well. In April Johnson announced an agreement with Rwanda in which people who come into Britain illegally will be deported to Rwanda. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda will receive millions of pounds in development aid.
Opponents have argued it is not only totally illegal but completely inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country that they do not want to live in. Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II.
Among the opposition include leaders of the Church of England, who called the policy “immoral,” as well as Prince Charles.
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