The Court of Appeal has ruled the UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful.

Rwanda had not provided sufficient safeguards to prove it is a "safe third country", senior judges said in a split decision.

The government wanted to send some asylum seekers, including those who arrive in small boats to the African nation to have their claims processed.

Ministers insisted it was a safe third country, but campaigners say there is a risk people who are seeking asylum could be forced back to the country from where they were originally fleeing.

Ten people from countries including Syria, Iraq and Albania, who arrived in the UK in small boats, as well as the charity Asylum Aid, argued the policy is unlawful.

The High Court had backed the government's policy at an earlier hearing but that decision was scrutinised at a Court of Appeal hearing before Lord Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos and Lord Justice Underhill.

While Lord Burnett sided with the UK government, the others concluded that the assurances from the Rwandan government were not "sufficient to ensure that there is no real risk that asylum seekers relocated under the Rwanda policy will be wrongly returned to countries where they face persecution or other inhumane treatment".

They said that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will be unlawful "unless and until the deficiencies in asylum processes are corrected".

Handing down the court's decision during a brief hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Lord Burnett "stressed that decision implies no view whatever about the political merits or otherwise of the Rwanda policy".

The Rwandan government insisted it is "one of the safest countries in the world" and had been recognised for its "exemplary treatment of refugees".

The judgment of the court can be read in full at: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/aa...

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos:    / @skynewscourts  

Follow Sky News on Twitter:   / skynews   and   / skynewsbreak  

Like us on Facebook:   / skynews  

Follow us on Instagram:   / skynews  

For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps:

Apple https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-n...

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...