Roger Roberts is a Welsh Liberal Democrat from Llandudno and member of the House of Lords since 2004. He frequently asks questions in this role and recently on the 31st July and 1st August he published several questions on the theme of Asylum: Rwanda.
David Hanson, the Minister of State, Home Department, an MP in Wales from 1992-2019 responded. Here are the four questions and the four answers.
Roger: To ask His Majesty’s Government how they plan to use civil servants currently engaged in the Rwanda deportation process.
David: The Government is committed to a new policy agenda, which is why we are moving away from the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) with Rwanda and refocusing our efforts on a new returns and asylum system and Border Security Command.
Funding and efforts will be focused on expanding our enforcement and returns capability, so those with no right to be here are swiftly removed.
Roger: To ask His Majesty’s Government how many immigrants have been prepared for deportation to Rwanda; and what will happen to them when the Rwanda deportation plan is repealed.
David: The Government is committed to a new policy agenda, which is why we are moving away from the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) with Rwanda.
Roger: To ask His Majesty’s Government what contractual obligations the UK entered into before the general election, and with whom, to meet the requirements of the deportations to Rwanda.
David: Contractual obligations are subject to commercial sensitivities and cannot be disclosed.
Roger: To ask His Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost of preparing the Rwanda deportation plan.
David: In her statement to the House on 22 July, the Home Secretary said the Rwanda-UK partnership had cost £700 million, which encompasses the direct costs of the partnership as detailed in the National Audit Office report released March 1, 2024, as well as expenses related to preparing for relocation flights to Rwanda and implementing the Illegal Migration Act (IMA).
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