UK wins court case over collapsed Rwanda asylum deal

The UK will not have to pay Rwanda millions of pounds over the collapsed asylum agreement that was cancelled by Keir Starmer shortly after he took office, an international court has ruled.

The Rwandan government had sought to sue the UK for more than £100m, saying it had breached the terms of the deal.

Signed by the previous Conservative government, it was meant to see the UK pay Rwanda to host asylum seekers who had arrived illegally in the UK.

Lawyers representing the UK during the three-day hearing in the Netherlands had argued that it was "entirely logical" the plan would be scrapped when Labour came to power and "simple common sense" that no further payments would be due.

They also denied the UK breached parts of the deal.

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

Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Rwanda's minister of justice and attorney general, previously told the court the country had incurred "significant costs" preparing for the partnership, but the UK "then sought to walk away from its legal obligations".

He also said 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".

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced the scheme as a deterrent to those looking to illegally cross the English Channel in small boats.

The plan had first been announced in 2022 by then-prime minister Boris Johnson. It was designed so that asylum seekers arriving in the UK "illegally" from a safe country, such as France, would be sent to Rwanda and have their claims processed there.

If successful, they could be granted refugee status and allowed to stay in Rwanda.

The first flight that had been scheduled to take off under the plan in 2022 was grounded minutes before take-off due to an intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which triggered a series of legal challenges in London courts.

The scheme faced a number of legal battles before it was ultimately scrapped.

A voluntary removals programme was subsequently announced in 2024, under which migrants whose claims were rejected were offered up to £3,000 to move to the east African country.

Only four people were voluntarily removed to Rwanda.

Dropping the scheme was one of Labour's manifesto pledges ahead of the 2024 general election, and when Starmer came into office he declared the plan "dead and buried".

Responding to the court's decision, a government spokesperson said the UK had "robustly" defended its position.

They said the government was "focused on delivering vital reforms to restore order and control to our borders, including removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain and scaling up removals of those with no right to be here".

Imran Hussain, the director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said on Monday the scheme caused "chaos" by pausing decisions and leaving people stuck in the system.

"The best way to get value for money is to build a fair and functioning asylum system that makes quick, accurate decisions about who can stay and who must return," Hussain added.