Jan 28 (Reuters) - Rwanda said late on Tuesday that it had filed an arbitration case against Britain over a cancelled asylum deal, which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped in 2024.
Under the deal, agreed between the two countries before Starmer took office, Rwanda would have been paid to take in migrants who had illegally arrived in Britain.
Rwanda’s government said in a statement posted on X that it had submitted a notice to The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, arguing Britain had breached the financial arrangements of the deal.
Rwanda said that Britain had in 2024 requested it to forgo two payments of 50 million pounds ($69 million) due in April 2025 and April 2026 in anticipation of the formal termination of the treaty underlying the deal.
The East African country said it was prepared to agree, provided that the treaty was terminated and new financial terms were negotiated and agreed.
“Discussions between Rwanda and the United Kingdom did not however ultimately take place and the amounts remain due and payable under the treaty,” the government said on X.
($1 = 0.7245 pounds)
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema;Editing by Alexander Winning)
