UK 'plans another Rwanda flight' before court ruling

Officials in the British Home Office are reportedly drawing up plans for a second attempted deportation flight to Rwanda later this month, which could take place before the announcement of a court ruling on whether or not the deportation program is, in fact, legal.

A previous attempt to fly a number of refugees to the landlocked African country on June 14 ended up being scrapped at the last minute, following the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, and legal challenges from several of the individuals who were supposed to be on board.

The Guardian quoted a Home Office source as saying: "No court has actually ruled that this partnership (between Rwanda and the UK) is unlawful, and that includes the ECHR." The ECHR decision was based on the case of a 54-year-old asylum-seeker from Iraq who crossed the English Channel in a boat from mainland Europe.