Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 31
31
Accepted in Part
Publish disaggregated equality data on all individuals within the Rwanda removal process and monitoring plans.
Recommendation
Should removals to Rwanda be operationalised after the legal challenges are complete, the Government must record and publish full equality data, disaggregated by Equality Act protected characteristics, of people issued with a notice of intent; people issued with a notice of removal; and those removed to Rwanda. It should also collect and publish equality data disaggregated by protected characteristics of those who challenge in the courts a decision to remove them, and the outcomes of those legal challenges. Equality and the UK asylum process 77 The Government should also set out how it intends to monitor and ensure that those removed to Rwanda do not suffer harm or experience discrimination in that country. (Paragraph 186) Best practice in resettlement and humanitarian visa pathways
Government Response Summary
The government publishes some statistics and acknowledges challenges in collecting full disaggregated equality data, stating active work is underway to improve this with a new case working system. It confirms that a joint committee and an independent monitoring committee have been established to monitor the relocation process and ensure those removed do not suffer harm, with the independent committee publishing annual reports.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
In relation to the recommendation at paragraph 186, we publish regular statistics on inadmissibility and returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’, including information such as nationality, age and sex of individuals. Data on returns by destination are published. 6 Whilst we hold some information regarding individuals’ protected characteristics, this information is often held in the case notes rather than a reportable format, which presents challenges to regular statistical reporting. We recognise our responsibility to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty in considering how we can best meet the needs of people with protected characteristics. There are specific methodological challenges in collecting data about protected characteristics from non-UK nationals, but we are actively undertaking work to understand how we can best manage this. Further, we have set out in Recommendation 27 how we are developing a new case working system and reviewing our official statistics. The Partnership will be monitored through a bespoke joint committee and also an independent monitoring committee. The Joint committee has been established including officials from the UK and the Government of Rwanda. The monitoring committee provides for independent oversight and all members of the committee are independent from the UK and Rwandan government and the Migration and Economic Development Partnership process. They are all experts in their field with significant personal standing. This committee will monitor the entire relocation process from the beginning including the initial screening to relocation and settlement in Rwanda. The terms of reference and membership are published online. The Monitoring Committee will publish an annual report on their findings.