The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a government plan to send migrants to Rwanda, upholding a lower court ruling that it was unlawful, in a major setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“Having been taken through the evidence we agree with their conclusion,” a five-judge panel said of the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision, arguing there was a “real risk” to asylum seekers’ rights under international law.

This is the last step in the legal battle as the Supreme Court is the highest court in the UK.

In April, London’s lower Court of Appeal said the scheme was unlawful because the east African country was not a safe country.

The ruling dealt Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a major blow in his bid to deter large numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the Channel from France.

In October government lawyers argued at the UK’s top court that it should overturn the April ruling.

The Rwanda deal, struck by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022, was designed to deter asylum seekers from making dangerous journeys across the Channel, and Sunak has made a pledge to “stop the boats” one of five priorities as he seeks to turn around his and his party’s fortunes.

Aljazeera/Agencies.