Relationship dossier
Rwanda
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
Development and migration cooperation alongside disputes over the Rwanda migration scheme and regional security
Rwanda toward United Kingdom
+10Rwanda agreed to participate in the UK’s 2022 Migration and Economic Development Partnership, accepting people transferred from the UK under the scheme. The partnership was ended by the UK government in 2024.
United Kingdom toward Rwanda
+5The UK established the 2022 Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, combining proposed transfers from the UK with financial and development cooperation. The UK ended the scheme in 2024 and has raised concerns about Rwanda’s role in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Overall relationship
+5The relationship includes development cooperation and a concrete migration partnership, but the partnership’s termination and UK concerns about Rwanda’s regional conduct have created significant friction. The available picture supports a mixed relationship rather than a close, consistently aligned partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Rwanda and the United Kingdom have cooperated on development and migration, notably through the 2022 Migration and Economic Development Partnership. The arrangement became contentious after the UK Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe destination for removals, and the UK government ended the scheme in 2024. UK concerns about Rwanda’s role in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have also added strain.
Areas of tension
- The UK’s proposed transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda and the safety of Rwanda as a destination
- UK concerns about Rwanda’s role in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Key developments
The United Kingdom and Rwanda signed the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.
The UK Supreme Court ruled that Rwanda could not be treated as a safe country for removals under the migration scheme.
The UK government ended the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.
Major uncertainties
- The extent and terms of continuing UK development assistance are unclear.
- The practical consequences of the ended migration partnership for wider bilateral cooperation are unclear.