The United Kingdom has won its international arbitration battle with Rwanda over the scrapped asylum partnership, with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling that London owes no additional payments to Kigali.
The tribunal issued its final award on May 15, rejecting all of Rwanda’s claims. A press release confirming the outcome was published today by the Hague-based court.
Rwanda had sought approximately £100 million (€115.5 million) in outstanding payments, arguing that the UK breached the financial terms of the 2022 Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) when it terminated the deal. Kigali advanced three claims: a breach of the binding exchange of diplomatic notes governing the financial arrangements, a breach of the treaty’s financial obligations and a breach of its resettlement commitments.
The tribunal ruled entirely in the UK’s favour and ordered each side to bear its own legal costs.
Under the original scheme, the UK had transferred £290 million (€335 million) into a Rwandan economic development fund and around £20 million (€23 million) for operational costs by mid-2024.
Total expenditure reached over £700 million (€808 million), yet no asylum seekers were ever relocated under the policy due to legal challenges.
In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court declared the plan unlawful, ruling that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe third country for asylum seekers.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government formally scrapped the deal shortly after taking office in July 2024, calling it “expensive and ineffective”.
Rwanda initiated arbitration proceedings in November 2025, filing its notice on November 24 and claiming unpaid annual instalments and breaches of resettlement commitments. A three-day hearing took place in March 2026.
During the proceedings, lawyers for the UK argued that scrapping the plan was a logical consequence of Labour coming to power and that no further payments were due.
A UK government source described the ruling as “a clear vindication” that protects British taxpayers from further costs on a failed policy.
Home Office ministers reiterated that the focus is now on targeting people-smuggling gangs through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.
Conservative opponents criticised the original scheme’s collapse as a wasted opportunity, while Labour maintains the money spent delivered no returns.
The original plan was created under former prime minister Boris Johnson and announced in April 2022.
It aimed to send illegal migrants, who came from safe countries such as France or Belgium, to Rwanda to have their claims for asylum processed there.
This was supposed to discourage people from making illegal crossings to the UK and effectively stop them from becoming illegal residents in the UK.
When their claims were approved, they would become refugees in Rwanda.
Four people were voluntarily removed to Rwanda, as the legislation faced stiff resistance from progressives and UK courts.
UK Rwanda deportation law appeals to the Right across Europehttps://t.co/88HKJGx1wG
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 6, 2024
