Supreme Court Blocks UK's Plan to Send Asylum-Seekers to Rwanda

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the government's plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, stating that there is a real risk of ill-treatment if they were removed to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to pass emergency legislation to deem Rwanda a safe country and not allow foreign courts to block the flights. The European Court of Human Rights had previously blocked the first planned flight to Rwanda, and critics argue that there is no evidence that the threat of deportation to Rwanda would deter migrants from crossing the English Channel. The ruling leaves the government with no legal routes to salvage its signature immigration policy, which aimed to criminalize boat crossings without a visa and threaten deportation to Rwanda. Refugee charities have welcomed the ruling, while some hard-liners in Sunak's Conservative Party are pushing for the country to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.