The UK escapes compensating Rwanda over an immigration deal after Kigali’s defeat in court

The legal battle between the United Kingdom (UK) and Rwanda over a botched asylum deal has ended in favor of the European country.

• A Dutch court ruled in favor of the UK, stating it does not have to compensate Rwanda after canceling their asylum deal.
• The asylum scheme, initiated by former UK Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, aimed to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda to deter illegal immigration.
• Implementation of the deal faced strong opposition, multiple legal challenges, and was ultimately declared unlawful by the UK's Supreme Court.
• With Keir Starmer becoming UK Prime Minister in July 2024, the plan was officially scrapped, prompting Rwanda to seek compensation.

A court in the Netherlands ruled in favor of the UK, ruling that it does not have to compensate Rwanda for pulling out of an asylum deal both countries had signed.

The former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, intent on reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the UK, signed a deal with Rwanda that the Eastern African country would receive some of its asylum seekers.

DON’T MISS THIS: Africa-Europe migration row deepens as Rwanda sues UK for $125 million compensation

The deal was first introduced by Boris Johnson in 2022, the UK prime minister at the time.

UK and Rwanda asylum deal

In March 2023, the then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke via a phone call with Rwandan President Paul Kagame regarding a plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

The discussion focused on how both nations may work together to combat smuggling while addressing humanitarian issues.

By June of the same year, a detailed government examination of a high-stakes pledge to address unprecedented numbers of people arriving in small boats revealed that the UK's proposal to transport asylum seekers to Rwanda would cost £169,000 ($215,035) per person.

According to the government's economic impact study, the average cost of deporting each individual to Rwanda would be 105,000 pounds for housing each asylum seeker, 22,000 pounds for the trip and accompanying, and 18,000 pounds for processing and legal fees.

Since the deal’s commencement, the contentious deal encountered significant opposition, precipitating various legal challenges aimed at obstructing its implementation.

As of March, 2024, the UK government had suffered five defeats in the House of Lords over the deportation bill.

Additionally, the UK Supreme Court had ruled that an asylum deal with Rwanda was unlawful, citing the possibility that refugees transferred to Kigali might be deported to the countries from which they fled, subjecting them to even worse punishment.

By July 2024, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer, indicated that the Rwandan deportation system, which former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fiercely fought for, would be scrapped.

Sir Keir Starmer declared the scheme "dead and buried" on his first full day as prime minister.

This did not sit well with Rwanda, which decided to take the matter to court.

By March 2025, reports showed that Rwanda was seeking £50 million ($63.62 million) in compensation from Britain following the cancellation of a controversial asylum agreement.

In January 2026, Rwanda filed an arbitration case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, arguing that Britain breached the financial terms of the deal after cancelling it in 2024 under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.

However, a recent report by the BBC shows that the UK has won this case.

Ruling on the asylum case between the UK and Rwanda

During the three-day hearing conducted in the Netherlands, legal representatives for the United Kingdom argued that the termination of the scheme upon the Labour Party's ascension to power was "entirely logical" and that the cessation of further payments constituted "simple common sense."

Furthermore, the legal team contested the allegations that the United Kingdom had breached any provisions of the agreement.

"Rwanda is not entitled to any of the forms of relief it seeks," they told the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, minister of justice and attorney general for Rwanda, had told the court the country had sustained "significant costs" owing to the deal, but the UK "then sought to walk away from its legal obligations".

The minister also noted that the UK "did not do Rwanda a courtesy of informing it in advance" that it was scrapping the deal, and leaders were "left to read about this development in the media".