Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is giving to the training of police in Burma.

Since November 2013 twelve British police officers with specialist crowd management and public order experience have been deployed in support of an EU police training mission funded by the EU Instrument of Stability. The purpose of the project is to provide training on crowd management and community policing based on international standards and respect of humans. The project followed a request from the Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi for the UK and others, including the EU, for assistance reforming the Burmese police force. In January we also funded the attendance of two Burmese police officers at a regional course on the effective management of counter terrorism investigations, in line with international standards.

We have made clear our concerns at the use of force by police in Letpadan on 10 March, and also by the use of irregular security groups in Rangoon on 5 March. These incidents undermined an otherwise disciplined approach to policing student protests and demonstrate the need for further policing reform. We support the EU’s call for a full investigation, and call on the government of Burma to release all remaining demonstrators.