Court rejects Rwanda’s £100m claim against Britain over migrant deal
Judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled that the UK was not liable for two years of unpaid costs linked to the scheme, which was abandoned in 2024.
Rwanda has lost its bid to force the UK to hand over more than £100m (€115m) tied to the collapsed migrant deportation pact, after an international court found Britain did not owe the outstanding money.
Judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled that the UK was not liable for two years of unpaid costs linked to the scheme, which was abandoned in 2024.
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The agreement was struck in 2022, when former UK prime minister Boris Johnson signed a deal with Kigali to send to Rwanda migrants who arrived in Britain through what ministers described as “dangerous or illegal journeys” by small boats or lorries.
From the outset, however, the plan ran into fierce legal and political resistance, culminating in a UK Supreme Court judgment that found the scheme unlawful.
Yvette Cooper, then serving as interior minister, denounced it as “the most shocking waste of taxpayers’ money I have ever seen”.
Hope Hostel in Kigali where migrants from UK were due to be to be deported to as part of the deal
Yet in the two years before the policy was shelved, only four people travelled to Rwanda, and all did so voluntarily, according to the current UK government.
The UK government website says about £290m has already been paid to Rwanda, but in submissions filed before the hearing, Kigali argued that two annual payments of £50m each were still due.
The PCA, an institution established in 1899 to resolve contractual disputes between states, rejected by majority Rwanda’s £50m claim for one year and unanimously dismissed the second £50m claim.
The ruling lands as relations between the two countries are already under strain, after the UK cut aid to Rwanda and accused it of backing M23 rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
