Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what conditions exist in Rwanda that have led them to conclude that appropriate and professional age assessments will be capable of being carried out on people sent there for immigration purposes where special requirements apply in respect of an uncertainty over an individual’s age.

Our age assessment policies for immigration purposes seek to protect genuine children and identify those who are adults.

The UK-Rwanda Treaty makes clear at Article 3 that the agreement reached between the governments of Rwanda and the UK does not cover unaccompanied children and that the UK Government shall not seek to relocate unaccompanied children under the age of 18. It is therefore only those individuals who are confirmed to be, or have been assessed to be, adults who will be removed to Rwanda.

We have already strengthened the age assessment process through measures introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.