Rwanda said on Tuesday it’s taking legal action against the United Kingdom for its refusal to make payments under a controversial migration agreement.

As part of the deal, brokered by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022, Rwanda was supposed to receive undocumented migrants arriving in the UK on small boats.

What’s the Rwanda policy about?

The policy was intended to deter illegal migration to the UK. The previous Conservative government spent about 700mn pounds (US$966mn) on the policy before the 2024 general election.

But it was controversial and faced a string of legal challenges.

In November 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the deal was illegal under international law.

The court concluded that Rwanda was not a safe destination because of the risk that people deported to the African nation could be sent on to face persecution or human rights abuses in another country.

Deal ‘dead and buried’

The UK managed to ultimately send only four migrants to detention centres in Rwanda.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the deal after he took office in July 2024.

He said the agreement failed to deter unauthorised migrants and declared it ‘dead and buried’.

But London had already paid Kigali 240mn pounds (US$330.9mn) by then.

Rwanda is now seeking a further 50mn pounds (US$68.9mn) in compensation after the UK failed to formally terminate the agreement, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

What did Rwanda and UK say?

“Rwanda regrets that it has been necessary to pursue these claims in arbitration, but faced with the United Kingdom’s intransigence on these issues, it has been left with no other choice,” Michael Butera, Chief Technical Advisor to the Minister of Justice told the AFP news agency.

A spokesman for the UK prime minister said ‘the Rwanda scheme was a complete disaster’ and that ‘it was never a deterrent’.

“We will robustly defend our position to protect British taxpayers, and we’re getting on with the job of focusing on effective ways to stamp out illegal migration, not costly gimmicks,” the spokesperson added.

Rwanda has launched arbitral proceedings against the UK through The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The court’s website lists the case status as pending.

DW