KIGALI, Rwanda

Rwanda has sued the British government over a controversial migration deal which London abandoned about two years ago, according to a statement late Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer abandoned the deal between the two countries, which was negotiated by the previous government, when he took office in July 2024, following wide condemnation of the move by rights activists.

London had reportedly paid Kigali £240 million ($330.9 million) before the deal was abandoned.

In November 2024, the UK requested that Rwanda forgo two payments of £50 million that were due in April 2025 and April 2026, arguing that it was doing so in anticipation of the formal termination of the treaty, according to Kigali.

Rwanda indicated that it could accept the arrangements should the treaty be terminated, provided that new financial terms would be negotiated and agreed to.

But discussions between Rwanda and the UK did not ultimately take place, and “the amounts remain due and payable under the treaty,” the statement said.

Kigali reported the case at the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration last November after the UK made it clear that it has no intention of making further payments under the treaty.

In the statement, Rwanda accuses the UK prime minister of declaring that the deal was “dead and buried” without prior notice to Kigali, contrary to the spirit of the partnership.

It also accuses the UK of breaching terms of the treaty in “respect of the financial arrangements” as well as “refusing to make arrangements to resettle vulnerable refugees from Rwanda.”

“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 choices,” the statement added.

Britain had struck a controversial migration deal with Rwanda in April 2022 that would facilitate sending some migrants who arrive in the UK across the English Channel to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed.

But after assuming office, Starmer announced that he would not continue with the previous government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing it as “gimmicks that don’t act as a deterrent.”