Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on (a) treatment of detainees including migrants, (b) democracy and (c) other human rights issues in Rwanda of the Government’s plans to establish a migrant deportation policy with that country; and if she will make an assessment of the impact of that policy on the credibility of statements by the Government on human rights violations in other countries.

We are confident that the Migration and Economic Development Partnership is fully compliant with domestic and international law, including human rights law. We do not see this Partnership as incompatible with UK positions on human rights, and therefore do not foresee any impact on the credibility of our statements on human rights violations in other countries – as evidenced by recent statements on Ukraine.

Rwanda is a State Party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the seven core UN Human Rights Conventions. It is recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants, including over 500 people evacuated from Libya under the EU’s Emergency Transit Mechanism working in partnership with the UNHCR. Under this agreement, they will process claims in accordance with the UN Refugee Convention, national and international human rights laws.