Rwanda has initiated arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom over a cancelled asylum agreement, claiming the UK owes £100 million (€116 million) worth of payments. The East African nation announced on its official X account that it has involved the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague, citing breaches of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership signed in 2022 under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The payments in question, totaling £100 million, were due in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years, following the treaty’s termination by the UK Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
According to Rwanda, the UK violated the treaty by failing to make the agreed payments, disclosing financial terms publicly, and refusing to arrange the resettlement of refugees already hosted in Rwanda.
The British government has defended its actions, with a Home Office spokesperson stating that the previous administration’s Rwanda policy “wasted vast sums of taxpayer money” and that the UK will “robustly defend” its position.
The original 2022 agreement aimed to deport illegal migrants arriving in the UK to Rwanda. However, the plan was largely unsuccessful, with only four volunteers transferred before the pact was scrapped after the 2024 elections. In addition to the £100 million, the treaty also included payments contingent on the transfer of 300 migrants and other financial commitments totaling hundreds of millions of pounds.
The proceedings follow a previous plan on a U.S.-Rwanda deportation deal in August 2025, under which Kigali consented to accept up to 250 migrants from the United States. That agreement, like the cancelled UK pact, is part of broader international efforts to relocate migrants to third countries in order to speed up deportations.
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