Rwanda sues UK over scrapped asylum seeker deal

Rwanda began the inter-state arbitration proceedings under the asylum partnership agreement in November.Published On 27 Jan 2026Rwanda has taken legal action against the United Kingdom’s refusal to disburse payments under a now-scrapped, controversial agreement for Kigali to receive deported asylum seekers, according to a Rwandan official and UK media reports.Rwanda launched arbitral proceedings against the UK through the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on Tuesday. It is seeking 50 million pounds ($68.8m) in compensation after the UK failed to formally terminate the controversial agreement about two years ago, The Telegraph newspaper reported.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UK’s Starmer seeking third countries to set up asylum seeker ‘return hubs’list 2 of 3Rwanda confirms talks with US over receiving deported migrantslist 3 of 3Rwanda slams UK sanctions over DR Congo violenceend of list“Rwanda regrets that it has been necessary to pursue these claims in arbitration, but faced with the United Kingdom’s intransigence on these issues, it has been left with no other choice,” Michael Butera, chief technical adviser to the minister of justice, told the AFP news agency.Butera added that Kigali had sought diplomatic engagement before resorting to legal action.The programme to remove to East Africa some people who had arrived in the UK via small boats was agreed upon in a treaty between London and Kilgali. It was intended as a deterrent for those wanting to come to the UK in the same manner.However, just four volunteers ultimately arrived in Rwanda.Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the deal – brokered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in 2022 – when he took office in July 2024, declaring it “dead and buried”.London had already paid Kigali 240 million pounds ($330.9m) before the agreement was abandoned, with a further 50 million pounds ($68.9m) due in April.