The UK Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that an earlier decision allowing the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda cannot be overturned. The decision paves the way for the first plane to depart for the African nation on Tuesday.
The appeal, brought by two human rights groups and a trade union, was dismissed by Judge Rabinder Singh, who argued that his appeals court could not interfere with a “clear and detailed” ruling by a High Court judge on Friday, which gave the go-ahead to the deportation flights.
A separate challenge to the ruling, brought by the NGO Asylum Aid, is currently being heard at the High Court.
With that last-ditch challenge unlikely to succeed, only eight asylum seekers will be aboard Tuesday’s flight. The Care4Calais NGO said on Friday that the flight was initially slated to take 31 people, but 23 “had their Rwanda tickets canceled” for unknown reasons.