The British government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday in a judgment that gives a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop migrants from arriving on small boats.
The three senior appeal court judges ruled, by a majority, that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe third country.
Judge Ian Burnett said the majority found “the deficiencies in the asylum system in Rwanda are such that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk that persons sent to Rwanda will be returned to their home countries where they face persecution and other inhumane treatment”.
