Plan to send migrants to Rwanda illegal: UK court

Govt to file appeal, says it is a blow to managing asylum-seekers

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A British court ruled on Thursday that a UK government to send asylum-seekers plan on a one-way trip to Rwanda is unlawful, delivering a blow to the Conservative administration's pledge to stop migrants making risky journeys across the English Channel.

In a split two-to-one ruling, three Court of Appeal judges said Rwanda could not be considered a "safe third country" where migrants from any country could be sent.

But the judges said that a policy of deporting asylum seekers to another country deemed as safe was not in itself illegal, and the government said it would challenge the ruling at the UK Supreme Court. It has until July 6 to lodge an appeal.