The UK's highest court has ruled the Rwanda asylum policy is unlawful.

Colombo (News 1st) - The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal, in a major blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government.

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan was halted on Wednesday as the UK’s Supreme Court ruled it was unlawful. The court’s five judges backed a judgment by the Court of Appeal that the policy was unlawful because of the risk that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda would be returned to their own country and face persecution in breach of their human rights.

It represents a major setback for the Prime Minister who has made the Rwanda scheme a central tactic in his pledge to “stop the boats” by deterring migrants from making further crossings.

His Illegal Migration Act gives ministers the power to detain migrants who arrive illegally in the UK and deport them to a third safe country such as Rwanda or back to their homelands.

Source: Foreign Media