Rwanda has escalated its dispute with the United Kingdom by initiating international arbitration over London’s failure to comply with payments tied to a now-abandoned asylum transfer agreement. The case was formally lodged this week at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, marking a sharp turn from diplomacy to legal confrontation.
According to UK media reports and Rwandan officials, Kigali is seeking £50 million in compensation, arguing that Britain never properly terminated the agreement after walking away from it. Rwanda’s chief technical adviser to the justice minister, Michael Butera, said the government pursued dialogue for months but was left with limited options after repeated deadlock.
The controversial deal, signed in 2022 under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was designed to deter irregular migration by relocating asylum seekers who arrived in the UK by small boats to Rwanda for processing and resettlement. In practice, the policy stalled almost immediately, with only four volunteers ultimately transferred.
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When Prime Minister Keir Starmer assumed office in July 2024, his government formally scrapped the plan, describing it as unworkable. Despite this, Rwanda argues that the UK remained contractually bound to outstanding payments. London had already transferred £240 million to Kigali, with an additional £50 million scheduled for release in April before the agreement collapsed.
The UK government has vowed to contest the claim, saying it will defend public funds. Meanwhile, tensions between both countries have remained high following Britain’s decision last year to suspend most aid to Rwanda over its alleged support for the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a charge Kigali strongly rejects.
The asylum partnership also faced persistent legal resistance within Britain, culminating in a Supreme Court ruling in late 2023 that declared the policy unlawful under international standards.
Immigration continues to dominate British politics, with record Channel crossings recorded in 2024 and 2025. While the UK says it has removed tens of thousands of undocumented migrants, critics argue that abandoned policies like the Rwanda deal have done little to address the root causes of migration, while generating costly legal fallout.