Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take with (a) the UN and (b) other international partners to ensure that the Myanmar military and police forces do not violate medical neutrality and uphold their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The UK is appalled at reports that protestors and medical professionals have been subject to attacks by the Myanmar security forces. The violent crackdown on peaceful protesters and the obstruction of medical care-givers is completely unacceptable. The UK has coordinated a strong international response including through the UN Security Council and the G7. We secured a Presidential Statement at the UN Security Council on 10 March which condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors. We are clear that the military must pay the price for their actions, We have worked with partners such as the EU, US and Canada to sanction military officers who are responsible for serious human rights violations and are exploring all options to put pressure on the economic interests of the military.

We have used the Burma sanctions regime and the Global Human Rights regime to target those responsible for human rights violations in Myanmar. On Thursday 26 March we imposed sanctions on military owned entity Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), in concert with the US to incur a cost on the military for the coup.