News in brief

Tuesday 2 June 2026

Court rules UK does not owe Rwanda £100m over scrapped deportation

This article appeared as part of the Daily Sensemaker newsletter – one story a day to make sense of the world. To receive it in your inbox, featuring content exclusive to the newsletter, sign up for free here.

An international court has ruled that the UK does not owe Rwanda more than £100m over the failed deportation scheme set up by Boris Johnson. Kigali had sued, claiming that the British government had breached the terms of the agreement. The programme was established in 2022 and would have sent asylum seekers who had arrived illegally on British shores to the East African country to deter small boat crossings. But it faced a series of legal challenges, with the Supreme Court declaring it unlawful on the basis that Rwanda did not constitute a safe third country. Labour scrapped it after coming to power in 2024. Roughly £290m was paid to Rwanda, but the country had claimed it was still owed two payments of £50m.

Newsletters

Choose the newsletters you want to receive

View more

For information about how The Observer protects your data, read our Privacy Policy

Follow

The Observer
The Observer Magazine
The ObserverNew Review
The Observer Food Monthly
Copyright © 2025 Tortoise MediaPrivacy PolicyTerms & Conditions