World News | UK to Appeal Against European Court Grounding of Migrant Flight to Rwanda

London, Jun 15 (PTI) The UK government said on Wednesday that it will appeal against a European court ruling that grounded the first flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda under a new policy to combat illegal migration.

The first flight carrying around seven migrants had to be cancelled at the last minute on Tuesday evening when a late intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) led to fresh legal challenges in UK courts. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “disappointed” with the latest development.

Also Read | Spain Reports Worst June Heatwave in Last 20 Years, Issues High Temperature Alert.

"Preparation for the next flight begins now," the minister said.

The UK Home Office is said to be working on the next stages of the legal process to appeal against the decision. The ECHR in Strasbourg, which is not a European Union body and of which the UK remains a member, ruled in favour of an Iraqi man to say he faced "a real risk of irreversible harm" if he remained on the flight. The court said he should not be sent to Rwanda until the full decision on whether the government's policy is legal is made by the UK Supreme Court, which is due in July.

Also Read | China-Russia Diplomatic Ties May Spoil As Beijing Bars Moscow's Planes.

The UK's new Migration Partnership with Rwanda is part of a five-year trial launched by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel earlier, in which some asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally are transported to Rwanda to claim refuge there. They will get accommodation and support while the Rwandan government considers their application, and if they are successful they can stay in the country with up to five years' access to education and support. If their asylum claim is unsuccessful, they will be offered the chance to apply for other immigration routes or face deportation from Rwanda.

The move has faced widespread criticism, including from the Church of England leaders who branded it an "immoral policy that shames Britain".

However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the plan as necessary to combat unsafe and life-threatening crossings in the English Channels dominated by people traffickers.

“We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that is being directed upon this policy – some of it from slightly unexpected quarters,” Johnson told his ministers in Cabinet on Tuesday.

“What is happening with the attempt to undermine the Rwanda policy is that they are, I'm afraid, undermining everything that we're trying to do to support safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK and to oppose the illegal and dangerous routes. That is what we are trying to do, that is the essence of our policy,” he said.

Judges in the UK Court of Appeal had ruled on Monday that the flight could go ahead after a legal challenge by campaigners, who say the government's plan to send some migrants to the east African country is inhumane.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)