Britain will not be required to pay Rwanda tens of millions of pounds in compensation following the cancellation of a controversial migrant relocation agreement, after an international arbitration tribunal rejected all financial claims brought by Kigali.
The ruling, issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, marks the latest chapter in the dispute over a policy introduced by the previous Conservative government to send asylum seekers arriving illegally in Britain to Rwanda.
According to excerpts from the tribunal’s decision released on Monday, the three-member arbitration panel found that Rwanda had agreed in diplomatic exchanges in November 2024 to forgo additional payments that would otherwise have been due from Britain in April 2025 and April 2026.
As a result, the court rejected Rwanda’s demand for compensation, which court documents indicated amounted to at least £60 million (about US$80 million).
The ruling stems from Britain’s decision to terminate the asylum partnership shortly after Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office in 2024.
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Starmer’s government scrapped the policy, arguing that it was ineffective, costly and unlikely to address irregular migration across the English Channel.
The agreement had been a flagship immigration initiative of the previous Conservative administration and was designed to deter migrants from making dangerous crossings to Britain in small boats.
Under the arrangement, asylum seekers arriving unlawfully in Britain could have been transferred to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed.
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However, the programme faced repeated legal challenges in British courts and never became fully operational.
In the end, only four individuals voluntarily travelled to Rwanda under the scheme before it was abandoned.
A spokesperson for the British government welcomed the arbitration outcome, saying London had “robustly” defended its position throughout the proceedings.
The government also criticised the previous policy, stating that approximately £700 million of taxpayer funds had been spent on a programme that resulted in only four voluntary relocations.
Rwanda said it respected the tribunal’s decision, although it maintained that the legal issues involved were complex and open to differing interpretations.
Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said Kigali would continue to engage constructively with international partners in line with international norms and mutually beneficial cooperation.
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The dispute comes amid a broader cooling of relations between Britain and Rwanda.
Ties between the two countries became strained last year after London suspended parts of its aid cooperation with Kigali over concerns related to the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda has faced increasing international scrutiny over allegations that it supports the M23 rebel movement operating in eastern Congo.
Kigali has consistently denied backing the rebels and has instead accused Congolese and Burundian forces of contributing to the violence.
The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and intensified regional tensions in the Great Lakes region.
The arbitration ruling removes a potential financial liability for Britain while formally closing one of the final outstanding disputes linked to the abandoned Rwanda asylum policy.
