Rwanda is seeking more than £100 million it says the United Kingdom still owes from a scrapped 2022 deal to deport migrants, in a case that opened on Wednesday at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Representing Rwanda, Justice Minister Emmanuel Ugirashebuja said his country "regretted" having to drag the UK to the court – set up in 1899 to settle contractual disputes between countries – to recover "the substantial sums of money of which Rwanda has been deprived".
"However, the United Kingdom's intransigence has left Rwanda with no other choice to vindicate its rights," Ugirashebuja told the three-judge panel.
The case comes amid further tensions between the two nations after the UK Government slashed aid to Rwanda, accusing it of supporting M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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Deal 'dead and buried'
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson signed a deal with Kigali in 2022 to send migrants arriving in the UK via "dangerous or illegal journeys" in small boats or lorries to Rwanda.
But the scheme hit legal and political obstacles from the start, with the UK Supreme Court eventually ruling it was illegal.
On current UK leader Keir Starmer's first full day in office in July 2024, he declared the plan "dead and buried" and dismissed it as a "gimmick".
Then-home secretary Yvette Cooper called it "the most shocking waste of taxpayers' money I have ever seen".
In the two years before the scheme was scrapped, just four people were actually sent from the UK to Rwanda, according to the current UK Government, and all went voluntarily.
According to the UK Government website, around £290 million (€336m) has already been paid to Rwanda, but Kigali argued in its pre-hearing submissions to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that two annual payments of £50m (€58m) were still outstanding.
The UK's termination of the deal "does not change the UK's obligation to pay any amount that was already due and payable," Rwanda said in its 37-page case.
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'Rightly aggrieved'
Rwanda is also seeking an additional £6m (€7m), arguing that the UK breached a reciprocal agreement to house its "most vulnerable refugees", mainly fleeing war in the DRC. It is claiming the cost of accommodating these individuals.
Rwanda is also urging judges to order the UK to issue a formal apology for breaching the deal.
"Rwanda considers that it was wrong for the UK to walk away from its obligations simply because its internal political assessment of the agreement's convenience had changed," its submission says. "Rwanda is rightly aggrieved by the UK's conduct and seeks an apology."
The UK response points to "obvious weaknesses" in Rwanda's legal argument, adding: "Rwanda cannot genuinely be seeking to vindicate any supposed legal right through these claims."
London alleges Rwanda's "real motivation" is a response to the UK decision last year to suspend most of its financial aid over Kigali's support for the M23 group's offensive in DRC.
On the same day this was announced, according to the UK's submission, Rwanda went back on its agreement to waive future payments due from the migrant deal.
"The timing of Rwanda's case against the UK is clearly deliberate, as the country attracts increasing criticism over its support for M23," said Phil Clark, Professor of International Politics at SOAS University of London, who specialises in conflict and post-conflict issues.
"Rwanda wants to knock the international community back on its heels and remind its global partners of its immense worth in the migration and peacekeeping spaces that matter so much to the likes of the UK and the EU."
Officials from Rwanda set out their case on Wednesday, with British lawyers due to respond on Thursday. Both sides will sum up on Friday. The PCA will likely take several months to issue its ruling.
(with AFP)
