An international court has rejected Rwanda's demand that the UK government pay more than £100 million in compensation following the cancellation of a migrant deportation deal initiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After three days of hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, judges ruled that the UK is not liable for two outstanding payments under the scheme, which was suspended in 2024.
The agreement, signed by Mr. Johnson in 2022 with the government in Kigali, stipulated that asylum seekers arriving on UK shores by small boats or lorries after “dangerous or illegal” journeys would be sent to Rwanda. However, the program faced legal and political hurdles from the outset, ultimately being declared unlawful by the UK Supreme Court.
When Keir Starmer became Prime Minister in July 2024, he declared the plan “dead and buried” on his first working day, calling it a “gimmick.” During the two years before its cancellation, only four individuals actually went to Rwanda, all voluntarily. Approximately £290 million had already been paid to Rwanda, according to UK government data, but Kigali argued that two annual payments of £50 million each remained outstanding.
Rwanda sued the current UK government for breach of the agreement, seeking a ruling that the UK had violated the deal and demanding payment of all sums owed, plus compensation. In legal filings, Rwanda requested the court to find that the UK had breached the agreement and must pay around £100 million in two installments due in 2024 and 2025, plus an additional £6 million in damages and interest. Alternatively, Rwanda proposed accepting a formal apology from the UK for failing to honor parts of the agreement.
UK lawyers argued that canceling the plan after Labour came to power was “entirely reasonable” and that it was “common sense” that no further payments would be made. The arbitration tribunal, established to resolve contractual disputes between states, rejected Rwanda’s claim for the first £50 million payment (by a majority vote) and dismissed entirely the claim for the second £50 million.
A UK government spokesperson said: “The UK robustly defended its position, and the court has ruled in the UK’s favor on all counts.” Earlier, in February 2025, the UK had cut aid to Rwanda over allegations that the country was supporting M23 rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda’s Justice Minister, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, had told the court that the country had incurred “substantial costs” preparing for the partnership, and that the UK then “sought to walk away from its legal obligations” without prior notice, leaving Rwandan leaders “to read about this development in the press.”
