Rwanda has taken legal action against the United Kingdom, seeking compensation after the latter allegedly cancelled a controversial migration agreement.

The East African country is now seeking up to Ksh8 billion in compensation for the termination of the deal that would have seen some asylum seekers in the UK relocated to Kigali.

While Rwanda was chosen for the agreement, Kenya was previously considered by the UK for a similar 'lucrative' deal, but ultimately abandoned it. 

Sources privy to the information revealed that Kenya declined the deal due to its existing regional security challenges, including the insecurity in neighbouring Somalia and South Sudan to the North.

Rwanda said the UK did not meet its financial obligations under the agreement, leading President Paul Kagame’s government to lodge a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.

The deal, first agreed in 2022, was part of a plan to prevent unauthorised migration into the UK by sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, where their claims would be processed.

The UK had already paid Rwanda millions of shillings under the agreement before the UK government, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, scrapped it in 2024.

Officials in London have maintained that they will strongly defend the UK’s stance, insisting the agreement was ineffective and did not serve the country’s interests.

Further, the UK has also described the earlier spending on the agreement as money that has since gone to waste and that London could have wasted more money under the agreement.

Reports indicate that the UK had previously approached several African countries, including Kenya, for the deal, but most of them declined the offer, prompting it to reach out to Rwanda.

While Kenya refused, Rwanda agreed to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, leading the UK to proceed with the deal in Kigali instead.

If Rwanda wins the Ksh8 billion lawsuit, the case could set a new trend of how African nations, including Kenya, address immigration disputes, particularly with Western nations. Kenyans.co.ke