The UK will not have to pay tens of millions of pounds more to Rwanda after abandoning their controversial asylum agreement. The decision was handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which rejected all of Kigali's financial claims.
The Rwandan government believed that London remained obligated to honor certain financial commitments under the agreement reached by the previous Conservative government. This agreement stipulated the transfer to Rwanda of asylum seekers who had arrived illegally in the United Kingdom.
However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer cancelled the program as soon as he took office in 2024, calling it ineffective and costly. This decision brought an end to one of the most controversial immigration projects in the UK in recent years.
According to documents examined by the court, Rwanda was claiming at least £60 million, or approximately $80 million. Rwandan authorities argued that these sums remained due despite the abandonment of the scheme.
The arbitrators, however, considered that in November 2024, Kigali had agreed, through diplomatic exchanges, to waive the additional payments that were to be made by London in 2025 and 2026. This conclusion led to the rejection of the financial claims submitted by Rwanda.
The extracts from the decision, issued on May 15 but only published on Monday, thus bring to an end a dispute that had pitted the two countries against each other since the cancellation of the agreement. This case constituted one of the last legal aspects of the British migration program.
Ultimately, the scheme was never truly implemented. Despite the significant financial resources invested and the numerous legal battles it provoked, only four people voluntarily went to Rwanda under this agreement before its final abandonment.
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