Labour delay in ending Tories’ Rwanda migrant deal leaves taxpayers on hook for £100m bill, court hears
An international tribunal heard that when Labor took office the Tories failed to walk away from a bad deal in Rwanda, leaving taxpayers on the hook for a £100m bill.
The Netherlands’ Hague Arbitration Tribunal said Sir Keir Starmer boldly promised on his first day in office in July 2024 that the Rwanda plan was “dead and buried” but the government failed to abandon the deal until December 2025.
According to court submissions, Rwanda said this meant it owed £100 million in payments promised under the deal and also wanted a further £6 million in compensation for Britain’s failure to accept vulnerable refugees under the terms of the deal.
Rwanda argues that Britain should accept 300 refugees and likens this approach to a one-for-one agreement with France.
The UK’s agreement with Rwanda was agreed in April 2022 under then prime minister Boris Johnson, and a formal agreement between the countries was later signed under the premiership of Rishi Sunak.
The arrangement allowed the UK to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, and the UK provided hundreds of millions of pounds to help implement the deal. To date, only four immigrants have been sent to the country from the UK, and they did so voluntarily.
The court heard that under the terms of the deal, the UK agreed to take vulnerable refugees from Rwanda in return; However, no number was given as to how many there were.
The Rwandan government argued in the Court of Arbitration on Wednesday that Britain had not only failed to meet its obligation to continue payments under the agreement but had also failed to arrange to take in hundreds of refugees from the East African country.
They argue that a “reciprocal” number of refugees should be accepted by the UK, given that the UK plans to deport 300 migrants to Rwanda in the first year of the agreement. Rwanda said it would “align” with the UK-France agreement, which “based on the UK accepting one migrant from France for every migrant it brings back to France”.
They are seeking £6 million in compensation for this perceived failure. This is in addition to two £50 million payments due in April 2025 and April 2026 that the Rwandans say the UK has committed to in its 2024 fiscal note.
Representing Rwanda, Dr. Emmanuel Uorahsherja told the court: “Rwanda’s case is clear. The UK may want Rwanda to give up a significant amount of money; the parties may well have argued over this issue, but Rwanda ultimately chose not to consent to the UK’s offer. It did so very clearly by refusing to accept the agreement language in the UK’s draft starting memorandum.”
He added: “The simple fact is that the UK did not give notice to terminate the agreement until December 2025. In fact, the termination came into force just two days ago on Monday.”
Dr Uorahsherja pointed out that while the agreement had been in force for two months under the Conservative Party government and the fiscal note for just over two weeks, “both of these binding legal instruments have been in force for over 18 months under the British government that won the 2024 election”. “The obligations they choose to adhere to must be respected,” he said.
He said Rwandans only heard about the deal being canceled when Sir Keir Starmer told the media.
Lord Verdirame KC, a member of the House of Lords acting on behalf of Rwanda, told the court there were discussions between the UK and Rwanda about waiving payments in October 2025. The court heard that the UK had offered Rwanda a diplomatic visa exemption in exchange for Rwanda not requesting additional funds.
But Rwanda demanded more in exchange for agreeing not to pursue the funds; A minister has pushed for greater visa concessions and stated that the UK is harboring suspects alleged to have played a role in the 1994 genocide.
The court heard talks broke down when the settlement was canceled in November last year.
In its presentations, Rwanda said that the £120 million worth of funds received from the UK for economic development under the agreement were spent on education, health, agriculture and IT sectors. This includes a school construction project and the purchase of healthcare equipment, they said.
The court heard Rwanda “relied on the payments” to support a specific public spending plan. Documents show Britain paid £270 million to Rwanda before Labor came to power.
The UK government will present its case to the Arbitral Tribunal on Thursday.
