Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on enabling access to refugee camps on the island of Bhasan Char for a UN humanitarian visit.

We continue to stress to the Government of Bangladesh that any relocation of refugees to Bhasan Char island must be voluntary, safe, dignified and in accordance with international humanitarian principles and standards. The recent reports of alleged sexual assaults and other forms of mistreatment on Bhasan Char are extremely concerning and we are monitoring developments there closely. We continue to underline to the Government of Bangladesh that a UN protection mission should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity for the 306 refugees taken to Bhasan Char from boats in the Bay of Bengal in May. The UK fully supports the UN's position that independent, full and detailed technical and protection assessments are needed to evaluate the safety and sustainability of living on Bhasan Char before any large-scale relocation of refugees is considered.

The then Development Secretary raised the issue of Bhasan Char in a letter to Foreign Minister Momen in August this year. The Minister for South Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has discussed Bhasan Char several times with the Bangladesh High Commissioner in London. The British High Commissioner in Dhaka has also spoken with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser about Bhasan Char in June and, most recently, with Foreign Secretary Momen in October.