THE Rwandan government has launched legal action against the UK to seek payments it claims it is owed under a scrapped migrant deal between the two countries.
Rwanda has filed a case with the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, arguing the UK has failed to honour commitments made in a deal to send some asylum seekers to the African nation.
Under the deal, which was signed by the previous Conservative government, the UK agreed to make payments to Rwanda to host asylum seekers and support its economy.
But after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer axed the deal in 2024, the Home Office said £220m in “scheduled future payments will not have to be paid” to Rwanda.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The previous government’s Rwanda policy wasted vast sums of taxpayer time and money.
“We will robustly defend our position to protect British taxpayers.”
The Rwandan government has not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment. But the country’s ministry of foreign affairs pointed us towards an article about the arbitration proceedings in the New Times, a Rwandan newspaper.
The article says the arbitration “concerns the performance of specific commitments under the treaty”.
The previous Conservative government spent some £700m on the Rwanda policy, which was intended to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Only four volunteers arrived in Rwanda when the deal was in force and Sir Keir said the plan was “dead and buried”, shortly after Labour won the 2024 general election.
The deal included a break clause, which said “each party may terminate this agreement by giving notice to the other party in writing”.
The £700m included £290m of payments to Rwanda.
In December 2024, the Home Office said a further £100m of payments would have been due under the treaty, £50m each of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years.
In addition, the Home Office agreed to pay £120m upon the transfer of 300 people to Rwanda.