KIGALI, 29 Jan. - (ANA) - Rwanda is suing Britain for £50 million ($70 million) after Labour scrapped the deportation deal between the two countries.

 

The east African nation has lodged the claim for the money through the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

 

The claim alleges that Rwanda was prepared to forego the payment but Labour failed to terminate the agreement with the country after cancelling any deportations. Rwanda says it is now owed the money and is seeking to be compensated.

 

The move revives the controversy over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to scrap the Tory government’s asylum deal as one of his first acts in office.

 

The Conservatives have claimed Labour’s decision to ditch the Rwanda scheme removed a potential deterrent even though they failed to deport any migrants to the east African state.

 

Last year saw the second highest number of annual crossings with a total of 41,472 migrants arriving in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel.

 

The yearly total was 13 per cent higher than the figure for 2024, when 36,816 migrants made the journey, and 41 per cent higher than 2023’s total of 29,437.

 

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said Rwanda’s legal claim was “yet another catastrophic consequence of Labour’s decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme”.

 

The Rwandans invoiced the UK Government for the £50 million that they originally agreed to forego when Labour announced it was scrapping the scheme within days of winning the election.

 

The Rwandan government said the UK failed to formally terminate the agreement despite scrapping the scheme – allowing the Rwandans to claim the payment even though not a single migrant has been forcibly deported to the eastern African state.

 

Days after being elected in 2024, the Prime Minister said the scheme was “dead and buried”.

 

Labour has consistently criticised the Rwanda scheme as a waste of money that cost the taxpayers some £700 million. Just four migrants were voluntarily sent to the east African state.

 

The £700 million included £290 million of payments to Rwanda, the cost of chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, as well as paying for more than 1,000 civil servants to work on the scheme.

 

Under the agreement, the UK had paid £220 million to Rwanda as of February 2024, with three further payments each of £50 million to be made in April 2024, 2025 and 2026.

 

The agreement contained a break clause that the UK could activate at any point without having to make any further payments.

 

The termination would take effect three months after the point of notification, according to the National Audit Office which had access to the financial documentation.

 

It is believed the £50 million now requested by the Rwandans relates to the payment for April 2025.

 

Rwanda lodged a “notice of arbitration” with the court, based in The Hague, in November.

 

The papers named the country’s minister of justice and attorney general, Dr Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, as the “representative of the claimants”.

 

Rwanda has instructed Lord Verdirame KC, a crossbench peer, of London-based barristers’ chambers Twenty Essex.

 

The papers also named Dan Hobbs, the Home Office director for migration and borders, as a representative in the case.

 

The Home Office has instructed Ben Juratowitch of London-based Essex Court Chambers.

 

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is yet another catastrophic consequence of Labour’s decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme.

 

“The deal was ready to see the first flights take off, and ditching it was a borderline act of treachery.

 

“This legal action means the British taxpayer is now facing a huge bill for Labour’s incompetence.

 

“Britain should be sending illegal Channel migrants to Rwanda, not putting them up in hotels or ex-military sites like Crowborough, which opened last week to the great anxiety of local residents.

 

“Labour was too weak to see this crucial policy through, and it’s the British taxpayer who is left to pick up the pieces.”   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/29 January 2026 - - -