London - Britain cancelled the first flight to take asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda just minutes before take-off after legal rulings on Tuesday evening. The European Court of Human Rights court said the plan carried “a real risk of irreversible harm.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was "disappointed" but added: "Preparation for the next flight begins now."

British government officials had said earlier on Tuesday that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. British media reported that the number of potential deportees had been more than 30 on Friday.

The cancellation of the flight, a Boeing 767, chartered at an estimated cost of £500,000, followed days of arguments in UK courts, ending with the home secretary getting the go-ahead to begin transporting some of the asylum seekers.

The Rwanda asylum plan, announced by the government in April, sees some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK given a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there instead. The government said the scheme would discourage others from crossing the English Channel.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended Britain’s plan, arguing that it is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they don’t want to live in. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the government’s policy “immoral.” Prince Charles was among those opposed, according to British news reports.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the British government’s deportation threat would not serve as a deterrent to those seeking safety in the U.K.
-AP/BBC