Last-minute legal challenges on Tuesday grounded a flight that was scheduled to take asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda, in an unexpected setback to a new, hard-line migration policy from the British government and an eleventh-hour reprieve for those facing deportation.
The decision to stop the flight came at the end of a day of uncertainty, as the small number of people who had been told they would still be on the plane made last-ditch challenges in several courts to resist removal from Britain.
A ruling by the European Court of Human Rights effectively halted the deportations, dealing a significant blow to a new migration plan outlined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government has been embarrassed by the arrival of asylum seekers crossing into Britain from France on small boats.
An aircraft, chartered at a cost of ÂŁ500,000, according to British media reports, had been readied to take off from a military airport late Tuesday. But after a series of legal judgments, it did not leave on the 4,000-mile journey to Rwanda.
Although Britain is no longer a member of the European Union, it is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, and therefore accepts judgments from the European Court of Human Rights, which is based in Strasbourg, France.
In a statement, the home secretary, Priti Patel, said it was “very surprising that the European Court of Human Rights has intervened despite repeated earlier success in our domestic courts.”
She added: “We will not be deterred from doing the right thing and delivering our plans to control our nation’s borders. Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.”
In 2016, Mr. Johnson led the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, arguing that it would allow the country to “take back control” of its borders, and the arrival of asylum seekers from France has presented a political problem for his government.
