Burak Bir
01 June 2026•Update: 01 June 2026
Britain has not breached the terms of its asylum agreement with Rwanda and will not have to pay millions in compensation to the East African country, an international court ruled Monday.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague said Britain is not obliged to compensate Rwanda over the asylum deal that was scrapped by Prime Minister Keir Starmer shortly after taking office in 2024.
The agreement, signed by the Conservative government of then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, aimed to see the UK pay Rwanda to host asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the country.
Lawyers representing the UK during a three-day hearing in the Netherlands argued that it was “entirely logical” for the agreement to be abandoned after the Labour Party came to power. They also denied that the UK had breached the deal.
In its ruling, the tribunal said it rejected Rwanda's financial claim for £50 million ($67.1 million) under the second year of the agreement.
The court also unanimously rejected Rwanda’s claims that the UK had breached Articles 18 and 19 of the agreement.
It further ruled that each side would bear its own legal costs and that arbitration expenses would be shared equally between the parties.
According to the BBC, a spokesperson for the Rwandan government said Kigali respected the tribunal's decision and considered the matter closed.
The arbitral proceedings were instituted on Nov. 24 last year when Rwanda served the UK a Notice of Arbitration pursuant to Article 22 of the Asylum Partnership Agreement and Article 3 of the PCA Arbitration Rules 2012.
