Britain will fight any legal challenges against its policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and is confident that flights will be able to take off in future, a senior British minister said on Wednesday.
Therese Coffey, work and pensions minister, told Sky News the government was already preparing for the next flight, after the first departure was halted at the last minute late on Tuesday following an injunction by European judges.
“The most important thing is that we tackle this issue right now, we’ll go back I’m sure to ECHR to challenge this initial ruling,” she said.
“We will be preparing for the next flight.”
The British government’s plan to send some migrants to the East African country has been criticised by opponents, charities, and religious leaders who say it is inhumane, and it has been forced to fight a series of legal challenges in London courts to stop it going ahead.
In the last few days, at least 30 individuals earmarked to be on the first flight successfully argued that they should not be deported to Rwanda on health or human rights grounds.
Just a handful of migrants were set to fly from an air force base in southwest England on Tuesday, but shortly before the plane was due to leave, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) granted injunctions to prevent their deportations.
