{"id":56990,"date":"2026-01-28T10:06:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-sheds-light-on-arbitration-proceedings-against-uk-over-terminated\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:06:08","slug":"rwanda-sheds-light-on-arbitration-proceedings-against-uk-over-terminated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-sheds-light-on-arbitration-proceedings-against-uk-over-terminated\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda sheds light on arbitration proceedings against UK over terminated migration partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a detailed official statement released on January 27, 2026, Rwanda explained that it formally initiated arbitration on November 24, 2025, by submitting a Notice of Arbitration to the Permanent Court of Arbitration under Article 22 of the MEDP Treaty. <\/p>\n

The government described the partnership, originally initiated at the request of the United Kingdom, as \u201ca bold new approach to deter the dangerous migration journeys which are causing untold suffering, while also addressing the global imbalance of economic opportunity, which is one of the underlying causes of mass irregular migration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rwanda highlighted its own humanitarian credentials, noting that the partnership \u201creflects Rwanda\u2019s commitment to protecting vulnerable people and builds on Rwanda\u2019s track record of welcoming and hosting refugees and migrants from around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

The country added that it \u201cremains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The treaty entered into force on April 25, 2024. Yet, only months later, in July 2024, shortly after taking office, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the MEDP was \u201cdead and buried\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe did so without prior notice to Rwanda, contrary to the spirit of the partnership that had always characterised the MEDP. <\/p>\n

\u201cLater that day, Rwanda was informed that no future removals of individuals under the MEDP were scheduled or intended to be scheduled, and that the UK Government would consider the formal termination of the MEDP treaty in due course,\u201d reads the statement. <\/p>\n

Tensions over finances arose in November 2024 when the United Kingdom requested that Rwanda forgo two payments of \u00a350 million that were due in April 2025 and April 2026, saying it was doing so in anticipation of the formal termination of the treaty. <\/p>\n

Rwanda indicated it \u201cwas prepared to accept these arrangements should the treaty be terminated, provided that new financial terms would be negotiated and agreed.\u201d <\/p>\n

Discussions, however, did not ultimately take place and \u201cthe amounts remain due and payable under the treaty.\u201d <\/p>\n

The statement further states that the United Kingdom has since made clear that it has no intention of making any further payment under the MEDP treaty or of honouring its further commitment to make arrangements to resettle in the UK a portion of the most vulnerable refugees hosted in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Despite Rwanda\u2019s attempts to move the UK from its entrenched position, these efforts have been unsuccessful. <\/p>\n

Shortly after filing its response to Rwanda\u2019s Notice of Arbitration, the UK notified Rwanda of the termination of the treaty, which took effect on March 16, 2026 in accordance with its terms.<\/p>\n

Rwanda \u201csincerely regrets that the UK has decided to bring the partnership to an end.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the arbitral proceedings, Rwanda advances three claims: first, \u201ca claim that the United Kingdom has breached an exchange of notes setting out the treaty\u2019s financial arrangements\u201d; second, \u201ca claim of breach of Article 18 of the treaty in respect of these financial arrangements\u201d; and third, \u201ca claim that the UK has breached Article 19 of the treaty by refusing to make arrangements to resettle vulnerable refugees from Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government stated that it \u201cregrets that it has been necessary to pursue these claims in arbitration, but faced with the United Kingdom\u2019s intransigence on these issues, it has been left with no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Government of Rwanda has shed new light on its ongoing arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom, offering a comprehensive account of the events that led to the abrupt termination of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) and the specific breaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000101182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":{"id":2000101182,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/52003985666_cc10773389_b-3-263ea.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000101182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56990"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56990"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}