Court throws out Rwanda's case against U.K. over asylum removal scheme

June 1 (UPI) -- A court in The Hague on Monday threw out a breach of contract suit for at least $134.6 million brought by Rwanda against Britain over a canceled scheme to deport asylum seekers who arrived without permission to the East African country.

Judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled Britain had no liability for the two payments of $67.3 million for two years of costs from the five-year agreement, signed by the previous Conservative administration of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in December 2023.

Britain paid Rwanda $390.5 million to cover the costs of hosting the scheme before the current Labour government officially terminated it on its first day in office in July 2024. Legal and political challenges meant only four migrants were ever sent there but Rwanda filed suit for breach of contract, claiming it was entitled to all outstanding payments plus compensation.

Rwanda's case was that it had shouldered considerable costs upfront only for the United Kingdom to then seek to "walk away from its legal obligations" and fail to give any advance notice to Rwanda that it was pulling the scheme, leaving the government in Kigali to find out from the media.

Rwandan Justice Minister and Attorney General Emmanuel Ugirashebuja sought to get the court to order London to pay the money in two installments plus $8.1 million in compensation but that Rwanda would accept a formal apology in place of the compensation, according to court papers.

Lawyers for Britain told the three-day hearing that it was "entirely logical" the scheme would be scrapped as soon as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration took power and "simple common sense" that no additional payments were owed.

They also denied Britain had violated elements of the agreement.

"Rwanda is not entitled to any of the forms of relief it seeks," they argued.

A spokesperson for the British government said it had "robustly defended its position, and the tribunal has now ruled in favor of the U.K. on all grounds."

Chris Philp, the opposition Conservative Party's shadow home secretary, hailed the judges' decision. He said the country "should not be in the position where such courts have jurisdiction over the decisions made by our sovereign parliament."

The Rwanda scheme originally floated in 2022 during the administration of Prime Minister Boris Johnson with the idea of trying to deter asylum seekers from coming to Britain without prior permission by deporting those who arrived from "safe" third countries, such as France, to another "safe" country.

Migrants' asylum claims would then be heard in Rwanda.

However, it faced a series of legal challenges that culminated with the Supreme Court ruling in November 2023 that it was illegal because Rwanda was not a safe country.

The government then introduced and passed legislation in April 2024, the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, confirming Rwanda was in fact a safe third country, clearing the way for the removal of migrants arriving in the United Kingdom.

On May 1, the government began detaining migrants for relocation to Rwanda with the aim of the first flights taking off in two to three months but three weeks later Sunak called a general election and no deportation flights ever took place.

The four people who were removed to Rwanda went voluntarily and were paid $4,033 each as an incentive to leave.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 9:45 AM.