Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what UK expenditure within Rwanda has been authorised in respect of (1)  building the capacity of their asylum system, and (2) amending the UK–Rwanda agreement to mitigate against the risk of refoulement.

As I said to the House at Committee Stage for the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on 19 February, Noble Lords will be aware that we have provided Rwanda with £220 million as part of the economic transformation fund and £20 million as an advance credit to pay for operational costs in advance of flights commencing. The spend on the MEDP with Rwanda so far is £240 million.

We anticipate providing another £50 million in the next financial year. This is not new but follows the same arrangement from 2022.

Rwanda did not ask for money to sign the treaty, nor did we offer it. However, it is right and proper that there is funding to reflect the additional costs in the future. The Government are already committed to disclosing further payments made as part of the economic transformation fund and the per-person relocation costs as part of the department’s annual accounts in the normal way.

During the debate, I committed to write to the Noble Lord Purvis on this matter, and the letter will be published in the House library in due course.