The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the British Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful.

The five-judge court unanimously dismissed the British Home Secretary’s appeal against a lower court’s ruling that the plan was unlawful.

The court noted that there are substantial grounds for believing that asylum

"This is because there are “substantial grounds” for believing that asylum seekers would “face a real risk of ill-treatment” in terms of being sent back to their country of origin after they were sent to Rwanda.

Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, England, which is currently being used to house asylum seekers, 14-11-2023. Image: PA Images / Alamy

The decision brings over 18 months of legal battles on the plan to an end.

The plan, announced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022, would see asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally deported to the east African nation while their asylum claims were processed.

At the time Mr Johnson said the plan would act as a “very considerable deterrent” to people attempting to cross the English Channel.

"Inhumane"

Refugee charities in the UK have consistently warned that the proposal is “inhumane” and in breach of human rights laws.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, labelled the plan a “gimmick”.

Announcing its ruling this morning, the UK Supreme Court noted that it was only concerned with whether the plan was lawful and was “not concerned with the political debate” around the scheme.

It said its decision was based on international law, including UN Treaties and the European Convention on Human rights.

Rwanda

An injunction from the European Court of Human Rights stopped the first flight to Rwanda from taking off in June last year and the scheme has been embroiled in litigation ever since.

No asylum seekers have yet been deported from the UK to Rwanda.

With reporting from IRN.