After court defeat, the UK says its Rwanda migrant plan can still work. Legal experts are skeptical

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s interior minister says the U.K. government can revive its blocked plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda without breaching international law. Home Secretary James Cleverly says the government is “absolutely determined” to begin Rwanda deportation flights next year. The U.K. Supreme Court quashed the government’s plan on Wednesday, saying Rwanda is not a safe country where migrants can be sent. In response, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would sign a treaty with the Rwandan government to close loopholes in the plan, then pass a law declaring that Rwanda is safe. Legal experts are skeptical: one former U.K. Supreme Court justice says the government is asking Parliament “to change the facts.”