Recommendation 47

In November the Prime Minister indicated a desire to ratify the Treaty as quickly as possible, which could be as early as February on the expiry of the CRAG scrutiny period. If the Government ratifies immediately, it gives the Government of Rwanda control over when the Treaty enters into force. 67 Rwanda might ratify before all the implementing measures have been adopted. 68 The Home Secretary told us that the Government would not “operationalise this scheme until we are confident that the measures underpinning the treaty have been put in place; otherwise, the treaty is not credible”. 69 We welcome that commitment but would go further. The Government should not ratify the Rwanda Treaty until Parliament is satisfied that the protections it provides have been fully implemented since Parliament is being asked to make a judgement, based on the Treaty, that Rwanda is safe.