Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish guidelines that protect LGBT+ refugees in relation to her proposals to offshore refugees to Rwanda.

There are currently no plans to publish any LGBT+ specific guidance for individuals considered for relocation to Rwanda as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.

The Home Office published a Country Policy and Information Note (CPIN) for Rwanda on 9 May 2022, which provides an assessment on the Rwandan asylum system and various human rights aspects. It supports decision-makers as they consider relocating an individual to Rwanda. In the CPIN, it states that ‘there are not substantial grounds for believing that a person, if relocated, would face a real risk of being subjected to treatment that is likely to be contrary to Article 3 ECHR by virtue of their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.’ However, it acknowledges that this may be different for trans individuals.

The decision to relocate an individual to Rwanda will be taken on a case-by-case basis and no one will be relocated if it is unsafe to do so.