Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the operation of the rule of law in Rwanda.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Conclusions from FCDO experts fed into the Home Office's policy statement on evidence of the safety of the Republic of Rwanda, published on 11 January 2024, which assessed the Rwanda's legal framework. The World Justice Project's Rule of Law index ranks Rwanda top in sub-Saharan Africa and amongst low-income countries for order and security. The UK encourages Rwanda to uphold and champion Commonwealth values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what progress he has made on preparing legislation to transpose into UK law the provisions of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement; and when he plans to ratify that treaty.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement at the first opportunity on 20 September 2023 and laid the Agreement before Parliament on 16 October, the first Parliamentary sitting day after signature. The scrutiny process has now been completed. The Government aims to implement and ratify the BBNJ Agreement by the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025. In line with this ambitious deadline, work is in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement into UK law before we can ratify the Agreement.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of Rwanda’s capacity to successfully integrate non-African refugees into society.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Rwanda has a strong history of welcoming refugees and protecting their rights. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), commended Rwanda for their "excellent job integrating refugees" in December 2021. People relocated under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will have all their needs looked after while their asylum claims are being considered in Rwanda. This includes safe and clean accommodation, food, healthcare and amenities. They will have full access to translators and will be able to access legal support to appeal decisions in Rwanda's courts. Rwanda's constitution includes a broad prohibition on discrimination. We have carried out a robust assessment of the country which demonstrates our commitment to fully evaluating whether Rwanda would be suitable for each potentially eligible person to be relocated.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the capacity of the Rwandan Government to successfully integrate refugees into society.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Rwanda has a strong history of welcoming refugees and protecting their rights. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), commended Rwanda for their "excellent job integrating refugees" in December 2021. People relocated under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will have all their needs looked after while their asylum claims are being considered in Rwanda. This includes safe and clean accommodation, food, healthcare and amenities. They will have full access to translators and will be able to access legal support to appeal decisions in Rwanda's courts. Rwanda's constitution includes a broad prohibition on discrimination. We have carried out a robust assessment of the country which demonstrates our commitment to fully evaluating whether Rwanda would be suitable for each potentially eligible person to be relocated.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of press freedom in Rwanda.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK Government firmly believes that a free media and vibrant civil society are vital for a healthy and well-functioning democracy. We discuss these issues regularly with the Government of Rwanda through our High Commission in Kigali and at Ministerial level, most recently on 18 May where I met Foreign Minister Biruta.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Hong Kong Government on border restrictions on people travelling from the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are in contact with the Hong Kong SAR Government to minimise the disruption to UK and Hong Kong families and businesses.
However it is the authorities in the country or territory a person wishes to travel to, who are responsible for setting and enforcing the rules for entry. The Hong Kong authorities have informed us that the decisions will be reviewed every two weeks.