Britain will not have to pay Rwanda tens of millions of pounds over a cancelled asylum deal, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said on Monday.
The Hague-based body said it had rejected all financial claims made by Rwanda, which had argued Britain still needed to honour the terms of the deal which Prime Minister Keir Starmer cancelled in 2024.
After taking office that year, Starmer scrapped the prior Conservative government’s asylum plan, under which Rwanda would have been paid to take in migrants who had illegally arrived in Britain.
Kigali was asking for at least £60-million (R1.3-billion), the court documents showed.
‘Rwanda had agreed to forgo additional payments’
The three-judge panel found by a majority that in November 2024, Rwanda, in diplomatic notes, agreed “to forgo any additional payments by the United Kingdom in April 2025 and April 2026”, the court said.
The details were released on Monday in excerpts of the ruling which the court said it made on May 15.
In the end only four people went voluntarily to Rwanda under the asylum agreement, which ran into legal challenges before its cancellation.
Relations between Britain and Rwanda soured last year when London paused some aid over the Rwandan role in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda has faced global pressure over accusations that it supports the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo.
Kigali denies backing M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands in the past year.
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- The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Britain does not owe Rwanda tens of millions of pounds after the cancellation of an asylum deal.
- Rwanda had claimed at least £60 million, arguing Britain must honor the previous Conservative government's agreement to pay Rwanda for taking in migrants.
- The court found that Rwanda agreed in 2024 to forgo additional payments from the UK for 2025 and 2026.
- Only four migrants voluntarily relocated to Rwanda under the agreement before it was scrapped by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in 2024.
- UK-Rwanda relations have been strained amid legal challenges over the asylum deal and disputes related to Rwanda's alleged involvement in the conflict in eastern Congo.
Britain will not have to pay
After taking office that year, Starmer scrapped the prior Conservative government's asylum plan, under which
Kigali was asking for at least £60-million (R1.3-billion), the court documents showed.
In the end only four people went voluntarily to
Relations between Britain and
Kigali denies backing M23 and has blamed
