Overview
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs the government formally notified Rwanda of cancellation on December 16, 2025, 18 months after taking office.
- Rwanda filed an arbitration case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration on December 17 seeking up to about £100 million in alleged unpaid instalments.
- Home Office official Dan Hobbs said the delay followed the repeal of the Safety of Rwanda Act within the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act passed in December.
- Kigali says the UK asked it to quietly forgo remaining payments on trust pending termination, while ministers say they raised the issue with Rwanda at the earliest opportunity.
- The France returns deal has removed 305 people to France while 367 were transferred to the UK, and Mahmood declined to guarantee small-boat crossings will fall within a year as reforms bed in.