Rohingya Communities

Anas Sarwar Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Westminster Hall

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Williams. I promise to be brief, because I realise that other Members want to speak.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) on securing this important debate. Many of my constituents, from all backgrounds and all faiths, have been in touch to highlight their concerns about what is happening to the Rohingya community, which they have seen on their screens.

We are recognising a tragedy taking place on the other side of the world in which innocent families are losing their lives. Given today’s significance, we should all put on record our thoughts and prayers for the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 or in other tragedies across the world.

My constituents, and people across the world, will be shocked by the images of death and destruction in Burma. Hundreds of people have lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Human Rights Watch, for example, has highlighted concerns that the Burmese authorities in many cases stood by and watched, and in some cases took part, as the tragedies occurred. It is incumbent on the UK Government and the international community to tell the Burmese authorities that they must fulfil their international obligations and, more importantly, their basic human rights obligations to every single one of their citizens.

We had the pleasure of having Aung San Suu Kyi here, which was a great day for us and a great beacon of hope for anyone who believes in freedom and democracy. Democracy is not only about being able to vote or stand as a candidate; with democracy comes responsibilities such as access to justice, recognition of fairness and equality for all—and, hopefully, opportunity for all. Sadly, that is not the case for the Rohingya community in Burma, who are denied citizenship and must get permission to marry, have children or leave their local villages. That situation is not acceptable in the 21st century in any country, and it is incumbent on us to condemn those actions.

The circumstances and responsibilities of neighbouring countries are also interesting. Bangladesh has many challenges from poverty and budgetary and cost constraints, but it also has an obligation to the international community. We support the Bangladeshi Government and their work to fight poverty and lack of opportunity in Bangladesh, and we must help them through this difficult period and, hopefully, ensure that they fulfil their international obligations.

I recently wrote to the Bangladeshi high commissioner, who kindly responded by saying that his Government are doing all they can to support the 25,000 Rohingya refugees in various camps across the country. He assured me that Bangladesh will fulfil its obligations under the UN charter and has repeatedly raised the issue in regional and religious forums across the world.

The one sad thing is that the high commissioner’s response shows that there is still work to be done. He concluded by saying that he thinks there is a Burma-only problem that can be solved only by the Burmese themselves. He said that the Rohingya population in Bangladesh causes drug dealing, arms dealing, murder and looting. He labelled the Rohingya an economic and social burden. There is still some work to be done to ensure that Bangladesh fulfils its obligations.

I welcome the Minister, for whom I have a few closing questions. What discussions has he had with representatives of the Department for International Development on ongoing humanitarian support for the Rohingya community? What discussions has he had with the Burmese authorities on the commission that has been set up to investigate the recent violence against the Rohingya community? What discussions has he had with the Bangladeshi authorities? What steps are being taken, alongside other international partners, to raise this important issue at the UN Security Council? What action can be taken from there?