UK wins court case over collapsed Rwanda asylum deal

The UK will not have to pay Rwanda millions of pounds over the collapsed asylum agreement that was cancelled by Keir Starmer shortly after he took office, an international court has ruled. The Rwandan government had sought to sue the UK for more than £100m, saying it had breached the terms of the deal. Signed by the previous Conservative government, it was meant to see the UK pay Rwanda to host asylum seekers who had arrived illegally in the UK.

Lawyers representing the UK during the three-day hearing in the Netherlands had argued that it was “entirely logical” the plan would be scrapped when Labour came to power and “simple common sense” that no further payments would be due. They also denied the UK breached parts of the deal. “Rwanda is not entitled to any of the forms of relief it seeks,” they told the Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration.

A spokesperson for the Rwandan government said it respected the tribunal’s ruling and considered the matter concluded. But in a statement, they added: “We note that the dissenting and separate opinion by Professor Mohamed Abdel Wahab shows that the issues before the tribunal were complex and open to different legal conclusions, including that the November 2024 exchanges relied on by the UK did not validly change the financial arrangements between the two countries.” Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Rwanda’s minister of justice and attorney general, previously told the court the country had incurred “significant costs” preparing for the partnership, but the UK “then sought to walk away from its legal obligations”. He also said the UK “did not do Rwanda a courtesy of informing it in advance” that it was scrapping the deal, and leaders were “left to read about this development in the media”.