THE airline contracted to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda has pulled out of the contract with the Home Office.
Privilege Airlines, based in Mallorca, has confirmed that it will not run the flights to support the controversial policy.
It was involved in a botched attempt to fly a number of asylum seekers to the African nation earlier this year, which was stopped after an eleventh-hour block by judges halted the flight.
Freedom from Torture has been involved in the efforts to stop the policy from going ahead and said it had received confirmation in an email from the airline it was no longer working with the Home Office.
The policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has been bitterly fought against by human rights campaigners who say the plans are contrary to international laws protecting refugees.
A spokesperson for Privilege Style told The National: “We will never operate the flight to Rwanda since the one scheduled in June 2022, the reason for this controversy, was suspended and never flew.
“We won’t operate flights to Rwanda in the future.”
In a video posted to Twitter, Freedom from Torture employee and torture survivor Kolbassia Haoussou welcomed the news.
He said: “People, we did it. Privilege Style just announced that they will be bailing out of the Rwanda plan.
“I am so excited. People, we did it. You know together we have the power. We emailed them, we phoned them, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, all over the place and the pressure mounted and finally paid off.”
It is not currently known whether the move leaves the Government without an operator to support the policy.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “We remain committed to our world-leading Migration Partnership with Rwanda, which will see those who come to the UK through dangerous, illegal and unnecessary routes relocated to Rwanda to rebuild their lives there.
“Rwanda is a safe and secure country with a strong track record of supporting asylum seekers and we will continue to robustly defend the partnership in the courts. We do not comment on operational matters.”
