Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised with Burma State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (a) the banning of media from areas of Rakhine State, (b) government blocking of humanitarian aid to Rohingya in Rakhine State and (c) the sacking of Myanmar Times journalist Fiona MacGregor for reporting on the mass rape of ethnic Rohingya women.

​We have raised the situation in Rakhine with the Government of Burma, including with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the Ministers for Defence, Home Affairs, Border Affairs, Immigration, and Information.

The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns, visited Burma from 9-12 November. She urged Burmese Government Ministers to resume immediate humanitarian access to the affected areas in Northern Rakhine and for a full and independent investigation into all reports of human rights violations. The Government of Burma has committed publicly to do so. We have also raised the importance of access and freedom for media personnel in Burma.