The UK will not have to pay Rwanda £100 million over a failed migrant deportation scheme, an international court has ruled. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Rwanda's claim that the UK breached their agreement by scrapping the plan.
The scheme, established by Boris Johnson's government in 2022, aimed to send asylum seekers arriving in the UK via small boats to Rwanda. However, it faced legal challenges and was abandoned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his first day in office in July 2024, who called it a 'dead and buried' gimmick.
Rwanda had sought two annual payments of £50 million, plus £6 million in compensation. The court dismissed the claim for the first year by a majority and unanimously rejected the second year's claim. A UK government spokesperson said: 'The tribunal has now ruled in favour of the UK on all grounds.'
During the two years the scheme operated, only four people were voluntarily relocated to Rwanda. The UK had already paid approximately £290 million to Rwanda, with the previous Conservative government spending £700 million overall on the policy.
