Labour failure to end Rwanda migrant deal leaves UK with 100m bill, court hears

"Sir Keir Starmer boldly pledged on his first day in office in July 2024 that the Rwanda scheme was dead and buried, but the government failed to quit the deal until December 2025, the Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands, has heard. Rwanda says this means it is owed 100m in payments promised under the deal and is also seeking a further 6m in compensation for the UK's failure to receive vulnerable refugees under the terms of the agreement."

"Labour failed to exit the Tories' doomed Rwanda deal when it took office, leaving taxpayers on the hook for a 100m bill, an international court has heard. Rwanda is arguing that Britain should have taken in 300 refugees, likening the approach to the one-in, one-out deal with France."

The UK Labour government, which took office in July 2024, failed to immediately exit the Rwanda asylum deportation scheme despite Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to end it on his first day. The government did not formally withdraw from the deal until December 2025, resulting in significant financial consequences. Rwanda is now pursuing claims through the Court of Arbitration in the Hague, demanding £100 million in promised payments and an additional £6 million in compensation. Rwanda argues the UK should have accepted 300 refugees under the agreement's terms. The original deal, established under Boris Johnson in April 2022 and formalized under Rishi Sunak, involved the UK paying hundreds of millions to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Read at www.independent.co.uk