The plane, which was initially transporting 130 migrants, was nailed to the ground by an emergency decision of the European Court of Human Rights. A setback that undermines the new migration policy of the government of Boris Johnson.
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After hours of tension and intense judicial activity, the first flight of asylum seekers from the United Kingdom and to Rwanda was finally canceled at the very last moment, Tuesday, June 14 in the evening, To the great relief of the handful of migrants – three Iranians, an Vietnamese, two Iraqis and an Albanian – who were about to be embarked on their will. They ended up obtaining reprieve, in particular thanks to urgent appeals from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Boeing 767 which had been chartered specially for them, and was preparing to take off from the Boscombe Down military base (in the southwest of England), remained a nailed to the ground.
This flight was initially to have about 130 passengers, but the vast majority of them had successfully appealed in recent days with the British courts of the decision to deport them, by invoking personal cases – victims of torture, minors , etc. Its cancellation undermines the new migration policy of the government of Boris Johnson, aimed at sending to Rwanda “thousands” of asylum seekers who arrived “illegally” to the United Kingdom (crossing the Channel, on pneumatic boats), for To discourage them from undertaking this dangerous journey.
“Preparations for the next flight are now starting”
Even if the plane should only take off with a handful of asylum seekers, “it’s worth it,” said Liz Truss, who went around British televisions on Tuesday morning. “It is a question of deterrence,” insisted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, according to whom these flights also aim to discourage crossings of the Channel. According to the British media, the flight of Tuesday was to cost 500,000 pounds sterling (576,000 euros) to the government.
In addition to the morality of the agreement between London and Kigali – denounced, exceptional, by the entire hierarchy of the Anglican Church -, it was its legality which was also in question Tuesday evening. The ECHR has taken an “interim measurement” and “urgent” against the sending asylum seekers to the very last minute, invoking the concerns of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on reception conditions In Rwanda, or the fact that it does not exist in the partnership between Kigali and London of mechanism allowing deported people to return to the United Kingdom. “Returning people fleeing violence in a country located thousands of kilometers [from the United Kingdom] was already cruel and ruthless. It is now potentially illegal,” said Sadiq Khan, the London mayor on Twitter.
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