International Development Committee: Burma Visas Debate
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Stephen Doughty
Main Page: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)Department Debates - View all Stephen Doughty's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee: Burma Visas
Stephen Doughty Excerpts(6 years, 1 month ago)
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Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
Can I associate myself, as a former member of the Select Committee, with the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg) and share my horror at what we have seen afflicting the Rohingya people? Many of my constituents have written to me about this, and they rely on Committees such as the International Development Committee to shine a light on these dark situations and find out what is really going on.
I urge the Minister and the Secretary of State to look closely at examples from the past such as our relationship with Zimbabwe. We were able to continue to support the people of Zimbabwe while they had a despotic and unacceptable regime. We have managed that careful balance very well, and I hope we will continue in that regard.
It is very unusual for visas to be denied in this way. Is the Minister aware—if not, perhaps he could write to me—of any other recent examples of countries denying visas to parliamentarians? I suspect it is very rare and would not put Burma in enviable company.
Mark Field
I must confess that these seem to me unique circumstances. They may well not be, but I will try to write to him to confirm exactly what the situation has been with regard to visa refusals of this sort.