Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have that removal to Rwanda will be a deterrent to would-be economic migrants.

The Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is intended to break the business model of people smuggling gangs. Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. By refusing those who arrive in the UK by unnecessary, illegal and dangerous methods to remain, the scheme breaks the people smugglers’ business model by not giving them the prospect of gaining entry to the UK to ‘sell’.

Recognising that the policy is still at an early stage, we are currently working on a monitoring and evaluation plan which will be a cornerstone in measuring the effectiveness of this innovative arrangement. We will be able to set out more details on this in due course.

This arrangement between the UK and Rwanda is part of a suite of measures aimed at breaking the business model of people smuggling gangs, and as with all policies its impact will be kept under review.