The Peace Palace in the Netherlands where Court of Arbitration judges Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Rwanda against Britain after it terminated a 2023 deal to deport asylum seekers to the East African country. File Photo by Guus Shoonewille/EPA
June 1 (UPI) -- A court in The Hague on Monday threw out a breach of contract suit for at least $134.6 million brought by Rwanda against Britain over a canceled scheme to deport asylum seekers who arrived without permission to the East African country.
Judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled Britain had no liability for the two payments of $67.3 million for two years of costs from the five-year agreement, signed by the previous Conservative administration of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in December 2023.
Britain paid Rwanda $390.5 million to cover the costs of hosting the scheme before the current Labour government officially terminated it on its first day in office in July 2024. Legal and political challenges meant only four migrants were ever sent there but Rwanda filed suit for breach of contract, claiming it was entitled to all outstanding payments plus compensation.
Rwanda's case was that it had shouldered considerable costs upfront only for the United Kingdom to then seek to "walk away from its legal obligations" and fail to give any advance notice to Rwanda that it was pulling the scheme, leaving the government in Kigali to find out from the media.
