British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop small boats from crossing the English Channel suffered a major setback today when the Court of Appeal ruled that his plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was illegal..

Under a preliminary deal worth 140 million pounds ($177 million) struck last year, Britain plans to send tens of thousands of asylum-seekers arriving on its shores on a journey of more than 6,400 km to the East African country..

Critics say the policy is inhumane and doesn’t work. Today the Court of Appeal decided by a vote of two to one that Rwanda cannot be considered a safe third country..

Sunak said the British government would seek an appeal against the court’s decision.

“I respect the court, but I fundamentally disagree with its decision. Rwanda is a safe country,” he said in a statement. “We will now seek permission to appeal this judgment to the Supreme Court.”“.

The ruling is a major blow for Sunak, who has faced problems including high inflation, high interest rates and falling popularity, amid growing pressure from his party and the public that it costs the state three billion pounds a year to deal with a surge in asylum seekers. To accommodate them..

And the European Court of Human Rights issued a last-minute ruling last year that blocked the first planned trip to deport the asylum seekers, and ordered the court to block the deportation of any asylum seeker until judicial proceedings in Britain are completed..

The High Court in London ruled in December on the legality of the deportation policy, but many asylum seekers and human rights organizations from countries as diverse as Syria, Iraq and Iran have challenged the decision..

The Court of Appeal said that deficiencies in Rwanda’s asylum system gave substantial reason to believe that those sent there would be returned to their countries of origin.“.

Even if an appeals court rules in favor of the government, it is unlikely that deportation flights will begin this year..

The government said this week that it costs an average of 169,000 pounds ($213,450) to deport each asylum seeker to Rwanda..

Critics say the government’s policies are aimed at garnering political support and fail to address fundamental issues.

Last year 45,755 people came to Britain via the English Channel in small boats, most of them from France. It has reached 11,000 so far this year, at a rate similar to the first half of 2022..