Court Rejects Rwanda Claim Over Cancelled UK Asylum Scheme

International arbitrators have ruled against Rwanda in its bid for compensation over the cancelled UK-Rwanda migrant deal, saying Britain was not required to make remaining payments after Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the policy in 2024. The controversial plan, introduced under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, aimed to send asylum seekers arriving illegally in the UK to Rwanda. The policy faced legal challenges and was later ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court. Britain welcomed the ruling, while Rwanda said it respected the decision. Only four migrants were voluntarily sent to Rwanda before the deal was abandoned.

International arbitrators have rejected Rwanda’s attempt to secure compensation from the United Kingdom over the controversial migrant resettlement agreement signed with the previous British government, dealing a major setback to Kigali after the plan was scrapped by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration in 2024.
The highly disputed policy, originally introduced under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and first championed by Boris Johnson’s government, proposed sending migrants who arrived illegally in the UK to Rwanda for asylum processing and possible resettlement. Under the arrangement, asylum seekers would have been relocated to the East African country, where they would apply for asylum and potentially remain permanently instead of staying in Britain.
The agreement quickly became one of the most controversial immigration policies in recent British political history, sparking criticism from human rights groups, legal experts, opposition politicians, and international organisations.
After taking office in 2024, Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately cancelled the deal, describing it as ineffective, expensive, and politically motivated. The Labour government argued that the policy had become a “gimmick” that consumed huge amounts of taxpayers’ money without delivering meaningful results.
British officials said nearly one billion pounds had already been spent on preparations, legal battles, infrastructure, and payments linked to the arrangement despite the fact that the scheme had barely been implemented.
Following the cancellation, Rwanda sought compensation through international arbitration, insisting that Britain was still obligated to honor two annual payments of 50 million pounds each that were due in April 2025 and April 2026 under the original agreement.
Kigali argued that the commitments remained legally binding despite the UK government’s decision to terminate the policy after Labour came to power.
However, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Rwanda’s claims. The Hague-based tribunal ruled that diplomatic communications exchanged between both countries after the cancellation of the policy effectively confirmed that the British government would no longer proceed with the payments.
According to the tribunal, the decision regarding the disputed 2025 payment was reached through a majority ruling, while the verdict on the 2026 installment was unanimous among the arbitrators.
Although the ruling was officially dated May 15, details of the decision were publicly announced on Monday.
Reacting to the outcome, the British government welcomed the ruling and said it had successfully defended the country’s position throughout the arbitration process.
“The UK robustly defended its position, and the tribunal has now ruled in favor of the UK on all grounds,” the British government said in a statement following the announcement.
Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo also responded to the ruling, saying Rwanda accepted the tribunal’s decision and regarded the matter as concluded. However, she noted that parts of the ruling concerning the 2025 payment could still be interpreted differently.
The migrant relocation agreement had originally been introduced during a period of growing political pressure on the Conservative government over rising irregular migration, especially the increasing number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Conservative leaders argued that relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda would discourage dangerous crossings and reduce pressure on Britain’s asylum system. The policy also became closely associated with growing influence from right-wing political movements and figures such as Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, who consistently pushed for tougher immigration controls.
At the same time, Britain was experiencing a significant rise in legal migration following Brexit, despite repeated promises from Brexit campaigners that leaving the European Union would reduce immigration numbers.
Even before Labour scrapped the policy, the Rwanda deal had already encountered serious legal challenges within the UK judicial system.
In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the plan was unlawful, concluding that migrants deported to Rwanda could face potential human rights abuses and that the arrangement failed to provide adequate legal safeguards.
The ruling dealt a major blow to the Conservative government’s efforts to implement the policy.
Earlier that same year, flights intended to transport migrants to Rwanda had already been halted amid legal concerns that the deportations could breach British and international law.
Although the Conservative government later amended parts of the legislation and pushed the revised bill through Parliament, the policy never fully recovered politically or legally before the party lost the 2024 general election.
Ultimately, only four migrants were sent to Rwanda voluntarily before the agreement was officially abandoned.
Critics of the scheme repeatedly pointed to the low number of relocations as evidence that the policy was ineffective and excessively costly.
A spokesperson for the current British government accused the previous administration of wasting approximately £700 million in public funds on a project that resulted in just four voluntary relocations.
Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and the Starmer government have continued beyond the migration dispute.
Britain recently reduced some aid payments to Rwanda after accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda has consistently denied the allegations and rejected claims that it backs the rebel movement.