An international arbitration court in The Hague has ruled that the United Kingdom is not liable for approximately $126 million in payments Rwanda claimed were owed under a failed asylum deportation agreement. The scheme, established in 2022 under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, intended to send asylum seekers who arrived in the UK through irregular routes to Rwanda for processing. The plan was later declared unlawful by the UK Supreme Court and formally abandoned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July 2024. Rwanda had argued it incurred significant preparation costs and was owed two outstanding annual payments of $63 million each, plus compensation. Before the scheme was scrapped, only four people were voluntarily relocated to Rwanda, with the UK spending approximately $367 million on the policy.
The Guardian
