Campaigners and lawyers from Cherie Blair's old chambers have lost a High Court bid to block the Government's plan to send migrants to Rwanda, paving the way for the first flight to go ahead on Tuesday.
Migrants due to be given a one-way ticket to the east African nation as part of Home Secretary Priti Patel's bid to curb Channel crossings, as well as campaign groups and a union, had asked judges to block their upcoming deportation flight.Judge Mr Justice Swift ruled against the claim and said: 'I do not consider that the balance of convivence favours the grant of the generic relief.'
Home Secretary Priti Patel told MailOnline: 'I welcome the court's decision in our favour and will now continue to deliver on progressing our world-leading Migration Partnership.
'People will continue to try and prevent their relocation through legal challenges and last-minute claims but we will not be deterred in breaking the deadly people smuggling trade and ultimately save lives.
'Rwanda is a safe country and has previously been recognised for providing a safe haven for refugees – we will continue preparations for the first flight to Rwanda, alongside the range of other measures intended to reduce small boat crossings.'
Lawyers from Cherie Blair's old chambers had branded the Rwanda deportation scheme 'unsafe and irrational' - as the Home Office urged a judge to refuse an injunction seeking to ground flights.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's army (FARDC) fired two rockets at Rwanda this morning, the country's military said.
The Rwanda Defence Force said the FARDC fired two 12mm rockets today, leaving locals 'terrified'.
There were no casualties but it comes after similar shelling on March 19 and May 23 that injured people and destroyed homes. Up to 130 migrants have been notified they could be removed, with the first 31 people due to leave on the first flight on Tuesday.
Lawyers for almost 100 migrants have submitted legal challenges asking to stay in the UK with the remaining anticipated to follow suit this week.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) is leading the case alongside charities Care 4 Calais and Detention Action. The groups say the policy is unlawful and LGBT migrants could face discrimination.
Their legal team being led by top QCs Raza Husain and Chris Buttler - both from Matrix - a chamber of liberal barristers' co-founded by Cherie Booth, the wife of former Labour PM Tony Blair. She left in 2014. Mr Husain told the High Court: 'The system is not safe. It is not that it is not safe after July, it is just not safe.
'You may be arbitrarily denied access to it. If you do get into it, there are concerns about the impartiality of the decision-making.'
He continued: 'The evidence is that if you are not from a neighbouring country, then there are high levels of rejection.'
Mr Husain said this included asylum seekers from Syria, who are largely accepted by the UK system.
'The procedure is simply unsafe,' he added.
Calling for an evidence-based assessment for the policy, 'not an aspirational basis, or hopes', Mr Husain said: 'The Secretary of State's conclusion as to the safety of Rwanda was irrational. We have a very strong case on that,' later adding: 'We say there is no answer whatsoever to this case on irrationality on the assessment that Rwanda's procedures are safe.'
The barrister later said that the agreement between the two countries, known as a Memorandum of Understanding, was 'unenforceable'.
'Nothing monitors it, there's no evidence of structural change. The risks are just too high,' he added.
Mr Husain also said a Home Office document used by the department in the claim was 'replete with the suggestion that the UNHCR (the UN refugee agency) has given this plan a green light'.
'Regrettably, the material in this application demonstrates that to be misleading,' he added.
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, had a number of concerns about the asylum process in Rwanda, including discriminatory access to asylum - including for LGBT people - a lack of legal representation and interpreters, and difficulties in appealing, the court heard.
Mr Husain said: 'These are concerns that have been communicated to the UK authorities and yet the secretary of state's position ... is that the UNHCR has given this plan a green light.
'That is a false claim.'
Laura Dubinsky QC for UNHCR, which is intervening in the claim, said there had been 'inaccuracies' in the way the agency's views had been described by the Home Office.
She told the court that the agency is concerned about the risk of 'serious, irreparable harm' caused to refugees sent to Rwanda, adding the body 'in no way endorses the UK-Rwandan arrangement'.
'UNHCR is not involved in the UK-Rwanda arrangement, despite assertions to the contrary made by the Secretary of State,' she later said.
Ms Dubinsky said the agency had 'serious concerns about Rwandan capacity', adding: 'UNHCR itself is not in a position to rectify those deficiencies.
'The problems described are deep-rooted structural problems, they are not capable of speedy resolution,' the barrister continued.
She also told the High Court in London that UNHCR has had 'a number of meetings' with the Home Office and has said they believe the policy is unlawful.
