Rwanda Requests £50 Million from Britain After Scrapping of Asylum Deal Over Congo Dispute

It is alleged that Rwanda is seeking a 50 million-pound ($63.62 million) payment from Britain over the cancellation of an asylum agreement. This request comes after London suspended some bilateral aid to Rwanda due to its involvement in the conflict in Congo.
When Keir Starmer became Prime Minister in July, he abandoned the previous Conservative government’s asylum plan, which involved paying Rwanda to accept migrants who had entered the UK illegally.
Yvette Cooper, the newly appointed Interior Minister, remarked that the scheme had already cost UK taxpayers 700 million pounds ($890 million) by that time.
A spokesperson for the British government said Cooper had been clear in her stance that the Rwanda asylum agreement wasted taxpayer money and should be discontinued. The spokesperson added that formal communications between the UK and Rwanda confirmed that no additional payments would be made under this policy, and Rwanda had agreed to forgo any further payments.
Yolande Makolo, Rwanda’s government spokesperson, explained that the demand for payment stemmed from Britain’s actions toward Rwanda, including what she described as provocative comments from the UK’s Minister for Africa.
“The UK had asked Rwanda to quietly let go of the payment, based on the trust and good relations between our two countries,” Makolo wrote on X late on Monday. “However, the UK has broken that trust by imposing unjustified punitive measures to pressure Rwanda into compromising its national security,” she added.
Last week, Britain announced that it would pause some bilateral aid to Rwanda and impose further diplomatic sanctions over Rwanda’s role in the Congo conflict, a move that Kigali labeled “punitive.”
Rwanda is facing global criticism for allegedly supporting the M23 rebel group, which has seized large parts of eastern Congo, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu, as well as valuable mineral resources. Kigali denies supporting the group but asserts that its troops are acting in self-defense against hostile groups operating from Congo.
Under the original asylum deal, Britain was scheduled to make payments of 50 million pounds to Rwanda in both April this year and next, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO also noted that a break clause in the agreement could be activated by either party, effectively halting further payments, except for costs related to relocated individuals.
So far, only four people have been sent to Rwanda under the voluntary relocation scheme.($1 = 0.7860 pounds)