An international arbitration court has rejected Rwanda’s bid to recover more than £100 million ($135 million) from the United Kingdom following the collapse of the controversial migrant deportation agreement between the two countries.
The ruling was delivered on Monday by judges of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, who found that Britain was not obligated to make two outstanding annual payments claimed by Kigali under the abandoned arrangement.
The migrant partnership was signed in 2022 by then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Rwandan government.
Under the deal, migrants who arrived in the United Kingdom through what authorities described as “dangerous or illegal routes,” including small boat crossings and clandestine lorry journeys, could be relocated to Rwanda for asylum processing and resettlement.
However, the scheme faced persistent legal challenges, political opposition and human rights concerns.
The UK Supreme Court eventually ruled the policy unlawful, dealing a major blow to the programme.
Following his election victory in July 2024, Prime Minister Keir Starmer formally scrapped the initiative, describing it as “dead and buried” and dismissing it as an ineffective policy.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also criticised the project, calling it “the most shocking waste of taxpayers’ money” she had witnessed.
Despite hundreds of millions of pounds being committed to the arrangement, only four migrants were ultimately transferred to Rwanda, all on a voluntary basis, according to the UK government.
British government records indicate that approximately £290 million had already been paid to Rwanda before the programme was terminated.
Rwanda argued before the arbitration panel that Britain still owed two annual payments worth £50 million each under the terms of the agreement.
However, the PCA rejected one £50 million claim by majority decision and unanimously dismissed the second claim, effectively ruling that no further payments were required.
The judgment marks another setback in relations between the two countries, which have recently experienced diplomatic tensions over the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Britain earlier suspended portions of its aid programme to Rwanda, accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel group operating in eastern Congo allegations Rwanda has consistently denied.
The ruling brings to a close one of the most contentious migration agreements in recent British political history and removes the prospect of additional financial liabilities arising from the abandoned scheme.
