UK wins court case over collapsed Rwanda asylum deal

According to an international court, the UK will not have to pay Rwanda millions of pounds over a failed asylum deal that was scrapped by Keir Starmer shortly after he took office.

The Rwandan government had attempted to sue the UK for more than £100 million, alleging that it had violated the terms of the contract.

It was supposed to be that the UK would pay Rwanda to house asylum seekers who had arrived unlawfully in the UK.

Lawyers for the United Kingdom during the three-day trial in the Netherlands had argued that the scheme was completely logical, that it would be scrapped after Labour came to office and that no further payments would be due.

The United Kingdom has also denied that they have violated portions of the agreement.

Rwanda is not entitled to any of the relief it seeks,

they told the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Rwanda's justice and attorney general, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, told the court that the country had incurred substantial expenses in preparing for the agreement but that "the UK has decided to withdraw from its legal obligations."

The UK

did not do Rwanda a courtesy of informing it in advance

that it was scrapping the agreement, according to him, and heads were "left to read about this development in the media.

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initiated the scheme as a deterrent to those attempting to illegally cross the English Channel in small boats.

Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, first revealed the scheme in 2022. It was designed so that asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom illegally from a safe country, such as France, can be sent to Rwanda and have their claims processed there.

If they go well, they may be granted refugee status and allowed to remain in Rwanda.

The first flight that had been scheduled to fly under the 2022 rule was grounded minutes before take-off due to the European Court of Human Rights' intervention (ECHR), which prompted a string of court problems in London courts.

Until it was eventually scrapped, the scheme went through a number of court disputes before it was ultimately scrapped.

In 2024, a voluntary removals scheme was introduced; migrants whose claims had been dismissed were then offered up to £3,000 to migrate to the East African country.

Only four people were voluntarily relocated to Rwanda.

One of Labour's manifesto pledges ahead of the 2024 general election, dropping the scheme was one of his manifesto promises, and when Starmer took office, he declared the initiative "dead and buried.

Responding to the court's decision, a government spokesperson said that the UK had robustly supported its position.

According to them, the government was "focused on delivering critical steps to restore order and control to our borders, including banning the benefits that attract illegal migrants to Britain and increasing the removal of those that have no right to be here.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp applauded the court's decision, saying that the UK "should not be in a situation where such courts have jurisdiction over the decisions made by our sovereign parliament.

However, he said Labour should have never scrapped the Rwanda initiative and that the decision has resulted in record crossings and asylum claims.

Imran Hussain, the Refugee Council's director, caused chaos by postponing decisions and leaving people trapped in the scheme, according to Imran Hassaine.

The best way to get value for money is to develop a fair and working asylum system that helps make quick, accurate decisions about who will stay and who must return,

Hussain said.