Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Myanmar on the militarisation of the Karen State and the treatment of the Karen people.

The UK has raised concerns about the treatment of minorities in Burma regularly at the Human Rights Council. Most recently, during the Interactive Dialogue on Burma at the Human Rights Council on 27 June 2018 where the Permanent Secretary of the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was present, the UK statement drew attention to the escalation of violence in Kachin, Shan, Karen/Kayin and other conflict affected States.

In a statement published on gov.uk on 11 May, I restated the UK's commitment to supporting the triple transition in Burma: from military rule to democratic civilian government, from conflict to peace, and from a closed economy to an open one.

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