Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of access by providers of humanitarian aid to (a) Kachin and (b) Shan State in Burma.

We are deeply concerned by continued lack of access and reports of violence in Kachin and also northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018. The UK continues to push for unfettered access at every given opportunity. Most recently, the British Ambassador raised the importance of ensuring humanitarian access in his meeting with the Chief Minister of Kachin State on 3 December.