Court refuses to halt UK's deportation plan for migrants

The Court of Appeal in London on Monday rejected an appeal filed by immigration rights advocates and public employee unions that sought an injunction to temporarily block deportation flights, which are scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Raza Husain, one of the lawyers for the migrants, had argued that the government’s plan involved the forced removal of asylum-seekers to a country they don’t want to travel to as part of a policy intended to deter others from trying to enter Britain.

“This amounts, on any view, to a serious interference with basic dignity … where those individuals have already suffered significant trauma and have mental health issues,” he said in the court filings.

The case before the Court of Appeal in London was filed by a coalition of groups including immigration rights advocates. They want to overturn a lower court ruling that would allow the first deportation flight to take off as on  Tuesday, June 14.

Separately, activists are challenging the deportations on a person-by-person basis, seeking to ensure that no migrants will be eligible for deportation even if the flights are allowed to go ahead.

Raza Husain said the lower court’s decision not to issue an injunction against the deportations “cannot rationally be sustained” because of concerns about the protection of migrant rights in Rwanda.

As a result, there is a significant chance the policy will ultimately be blocked by the courts, exposing the government to claims for damages from anyone wrongly deported, Husain said in documents filed with the court.

Husain argued that the government’s plan involves the forced removal of asylum-seekers to a country they don’t want to travel to as part of a policy intended to deter others from trying to enter Britain.