Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Myanmar since the publication of the report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Rohingya on 3 February 2017.

We are deeply concerned by recent reports detailing human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State of Burma. These include reports by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma and by a range of international human rights organisations. We are also concerned by the humanitarian situation facing the people in Rakhine with up to 70,000 refugees fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.

I met the Burmese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, U Kyaw Tin, on 27 February at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. In the context of the report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, I stressed the need for humanitarian access and a credible investigation into reports of violations. During his recent visit to Burma in January, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), raised similar concerns with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as well as military-appointed government ministers. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns did likewise when she visited Burma last November.

I also discussed these issues with the Government of Bangladesh when I visited Dhaka from 2 to 4 March. In my meetings, I welcomed the humanitarian assistance provided by Bangladesh to the Rohingya people and discussed ways in which the UK and Bangladesh could work together to encourage a durable solution for the Rohingya people in Burma.

With our international partners, we are currently negotiating a Resolution at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where we are advocating for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma. We are also seeking to establish a mechanism which has the support of both the Burmese authorities and the international community to establish the facts and help deliver accountability for violations.