Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma calling for an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid access to Rakhine State, Burma.

The UK Government has repeatedly urged the Government of Burma to allow the immediate resumption of humanitarian access. Ministers continue to lobby at every occasion. My colleague, the Minister of State Rory Stewart MP, raised the issue personally with Burmese ministers in recent meetings in Burma and the UK. Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Baroness Anelay, pressed the Burmese Government in Naypyidaw for the immediate resumption of humanitarian access in Rakhine, and our Ambassador has visited Northern Rakhine together with a number of international counterparts and lobbied five separate Burmese Ministers on this issue. The UK has also discussed the issue at the UN Security Council on 17 November, where we raised our concerns about the lack of humanitarian access.

The Government of Burma has now committed to restoring humanitarian access and we are pressing for, and stand ready to support, the delivery of this commitment.