Rwanda says UK owes $130 million over scrapped asylum scheme

Rwanda has filed an arbitration case against the United Kingdom saying it’s owed more than 130 million dollars as part of a cancelled asylum scheme.

In a submission to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the East African nation says Britain has breached the terms of the “migration partnership” agreed in 2022.

Under the controversial deal, London would pay Kigali to accept asylum seekers and immigrants who arrived in Britain illegally.

Introduced by the Conservative government, current Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the plan when he took office in 2024.

Kigali says it agreed to forgo further payments if the treaty was terminated and new financial terms were agreed. But according to Rwanda's filing at the court of arbitration, those discussions never took place.

Britain is also accused of reneging a promise to resettle vulnerable refugees with complex needs already being hosted by Rwanda.

Before being scrapped, the treaty faced a number of legal challenges. The UK’s Supreme Court ruled that Rwanda wasn’t a safe country and said the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda would breach domestic and international law.