The UK Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the government's scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful, dealing a massive blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's immigration policy and major election pledge before a vote expected next year.

The court unanimously rejected the government's appeal against an earlier ruling that migrants could not be sent to Rwanda because it could not be considered a safe third country.

The news comes just 48 hours after Sunak sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was a major architect of the government's plans to send migrants to Rwanda if they cross the channel in small boats.

What is the Rwanda case about?

London's Court of Appeal concluded, by a two-to-one majority, in June that those deported to Rwanda would be at risk of being sent home, where they could face persecution. 

That made the policy unlawful under Britain's Human Rights Act, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into British law. 

The government appealed to the Supreme Court, while a number of asylum seekers are also appealing to have the policy declared unlawful for other reasons. The five judges involved will give their ruling on Wednesday. 

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Why is the Rwanda policy so important to Rishi Sunak?

After becoming prime minister in October last year he made "stopping the boats" one of his top five priorities. 

Britain is currently spending more than $3 billion pounds a year on dealing with asylum applications, with the cost of housing migrants in hotels and other accommodation while their claims are processed running at about £6 million pounds a day. 

Sending each asylum seeker to the African country would cost on average 169,000 pounds ($213,450), the government has said. 

According to government figures in August, the backlog of asylum applications waiting for an initial decision hit a record high of more than 134,000, or 175,457 once dependents were included. Sunak had promised last December to clear this by the end of the year. 

Will Britain leave the European Convention on Human Rights?

Some in the government have strongly hinted Britain would consider leaving the European Convention on Human Rights if it thwarted the Rwanda scheme. Suella Braverman, who was sacked as interior minister this week and is a fierce supporter of the plan, is likely to lead such demands. 

Critics say pulling out of the Convention, which Britain played a leading role in creating in 1950 to protect individuals' human rights, or the Court would deal a severe blow to Britain's international reputation. 

The Court itself said last year it dealt with 3,110 requests for interim measures but just five related to Britain, while of its 1,163 judgments last year, only four concerned Britain. 

How does Britain compare with other nations on immigration?

Australia pioneered the concept of holding asylum seekers in offshore detention centres. Denmark has signed a similar agreement with Rwanda, but has yet to send any migrants there. 

The 27-nation EU is seeking to strike an agreement on how to share out the asylum seekers who arrived on its shores. 

According to the House of Commons Library, which provides research for British lawmakers, there were about 13 asylum applications for every 10,000 people living in Britain in 2022, compared with 22 applications for every 10,000 people in the EU.

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