Rwanda and UK in court over failed migrant deportation deal

Rwanda has taken the UK to court over its scrapped multimillion-pound migrant deportation deal.

The hearing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands opened on Wednesday.

Earlier this year Downing Street defended the decision to scrap the previous Tory administration’s failed plan when it emerged the UK was being sued by the east African country.

By the time of the 2024 general election, the Conservative government had already spent some £700 million on its flagship immigration policy which would have seen migrants who arrived in the UK by boat from France sent to Kigali in a bid to deter Channel crossings.

Just four volunteers ultimately arrived in Rwanda and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declared the plan “dead and buried” as one of his first moves in office.

The hearing is expected to last three days.