Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered at on 24 May 2024.
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Crossbench
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make representations to the government of Rwanda about the denial of entry into that country of a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, who is a British citizen, at Kigali airport on 13 May.
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Crossbench
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the government of Rwanda’s apparent refusal to allow staff of Human Rights Watch into the country for (1) UK-Rwanda relations, and (2) the UK-Rwanda asylum partnership.
Lord Benyon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The FCDO recognises the importance of organisations like Human Rights Watch and the work that they do. Our High Commissioner in Rwanda has spoken with the individual concerned and, along with other international partners, discussed the incident with the Rwandan government. The Monitoring Committee, agreed as part of the UK-Rwanda Treaty, will have the power to set its own priority areas for monitoring and have unfettered access for the purposes of completing assessments and reports.