Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Government of Burma on its decision not to provide visas to members of the International Development Committee.

We are disappointed at the refusal of the Burmese authorities to grant visas to the International Development Committee's members. In the run up to the Committee's visit, the FCO pressed for the visas to be granted, through calls to the Burmese Ambassador in London and representations to senior officials at the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Minister for Asia and the Pacific summoned the Burmese Ambassador on 6 March to register formally the UK's grave concern at the refusal to grant the visas.