Rwanda files arbitration case against UK over asylum deal
Migrants in flimsy, small boats crossing the English channel often drown due to the danger (via Reuters)
The Rwandan government has said that an arbitration case has been filed against the UK as the Keir Starmer government cancelled an asylum deal between the two countries in 2024, Reuters reported on January 28th.
The deal which was signed in April 2022, under then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was an arrangement in which the UK would pay Rwanda to take migrants who had reached the UK, with the purpose of diverting the plans of people smugglers and deterring small‑boat crossings of the English Channel.
The Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) only managed to send four people to Rwanda before the policy collapsed, and the UK had already made a payment of around £240 million to Kigali.
The Rwandan government sent a notice to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, claiming that the UK failed to make payments regarding the migration partnership on January 27th. Rwanda said that in 2024, the Keir Starmer government asked them to forego two payments of £50 million ($69 million) that were due in April 2025 and April 2026, expecting that the deal would be officially over.
“Discussions between Rwanda and the United Kingdom did not, however, ultimately take place, and the amounts remain due and payable under the treaty,” the Rwandan government said.
The Rwandan government also argued that Keir Starmer publicly declared the agreement “dead and buried” without giving Rwanda notice. They were only told that the UK government is not considering sending migrants, and that the deal’s termination will be discussed at another time.
As part of the deal, the UK had also agreed to resettle the most vulnerable refugees from Rwanda in Britain, which the government accused the UK of not having fulfilled.
A representative from the Keir Starmer government said, “The Rwanda scheme was a complete disaster, it wasted 700 million pounds of taxpayer cash to return just four volunteers.”
“We will robustly defend our position to protect British taxpayers and we are getting on with the job of focusing on effective ways to stamp out illegal migration, not costly gimmicks.”
Meanwhile, the US has pursued similar policies with Rwanda and other African states, and the EU is debating comparable reforms. All of these efforts reflect a broader global trend of outsourcing migration control, which raises serious legal, human‑rights, and diplomatic challenges.
Reuters, Africa News, All Africa, Maghrebi.org
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