UK judge allows first flight to Rwanda to go ahead with asylum seekers CNN



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of the united kingdom controversial plan Rwanda was flagged on Friday to send asylum seekers early next week after the High Court in London refused an injunction blocking the first flight.

The UK government announced in April that it had agreed to a deal to send asylum seekers to the East African country, in a move that was pushed back, in a move aimed at disrupting people-smuggling networks and preventing migrants from making dangerous Channel crossings from Europe into England.

Justice Swift rejected an urgent injunction brought by campaigners at London’s Royal Court of Justice on Friday, saying that allowing flights to proceed while a judicial review continues on “the balance of convenience” has a “material public interest”.

The first flight leaving the UK on Tuesday is due to take refugees to Rwanda as part of the Home Office’s controversial plan to process asylum seekers through the East African country.

The plan is subject to judicial review at the Royal Court, where a decision on its validity is expected at the end of July.

The government aims to discourage people from crossing the English Channel by taking asylum seekers to Rwanda. Home Office lawyers told the court that the scheme should not be stalled by legal challenges as it is in public interest.

The challenge was brought by human rights groups Care4Calais and Detention Action, with the Public and Commercial Services Association (PCS), a trade union representing civil servants in the UK Home Office, and four asylum seekers facing deportation in Rwanda Was. They claimed that UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s policy was “illegal on several grounds”, and sought an injunction to prevent the plane from taking off.