Government Response to the Committee's report on the UK-Rwanda Agreement on an Asylum Partnership

This is the government's response, published 15 May 2024.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government disagrees with several of the Committee's criticisms, maintains that Rwanda is a safe country and that the UK-Rwanda Treaty responds to the Supreme Court's findings, and "intends to proceed to ratification" as soon as possible.

• On scrutiny, the government "disagrees" that the timing of the evidence pack made scrutiny more difficult, and says it followed the normal CRaG process.
• On the Committee's call for further information and a debate before ratification, the government "rejects the suggestion that any unnecessary conditions should be placed upon the ratification" beyond what CRaG and the Vienna Convention require.
• On monitoring, it disagrees that activity will be infrequent or insufficient after the initial three-month enhanced period, saying the Monitoring Committee "will not cease to operate" and the enhanced phase may be extended in three-month intervals, up to twelve months, "if required".
• On Article 21 (termination), any further legal or practical steps needed if the partnership ends early "will be carefully considered", which "could include" extending the Monitoring Committee "for as long as necessary".

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