Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he has taken to ensure that his Department's funding for Sittwe General Hospital, Rakhine State, Burma, is not being used to discriminate against Rohingya people.

The UK supports improved health care for all communities in Rakhine through the multi-donor Access to Health Fund. We are clear that funding for Sittwe Hospital, provided as one part of this programme, must deliver improved access to healthcare for Rohingya people. We will not fund activities that further disadvantage this group.

Baroness Sugg raised the need for equal access to health treatment for all, when she met with the Rakhine State Health Director and the Union Minister of Health and Sport during her visit to Myanmar last autumn. This is in accordance with the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations. The UK will continue to raise this issue in discussions.