Under the deal, Britain committed to paying Rwanda in exchange for hosting asylum seekers who had entered the UK illegally. In 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled the arrangement “unlawful,” finding that it breached both domestic and international law and ordering the government to abandon it. Jonathan Musangwa, a Rwandan expert in international law, says Britain cannot rely solely on a domestic court ruling to excuse nonperformance of an international agreement. Rwanda says it was open to that approach, but only if the agreement was officially ended and fresh financial terms were negotiated. “Discussions between Rwanda and the United Kingdom did not, however, ultimately take place, and the amounts remain due and payable under the treaty,” Rwanda said.