Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that humanitarian organisations are granted access to Northern Rakhine state to deliver aid.

Access for humanitarian assistance in northern Rakhine is vital, and without it needswill not be met and lives will be lost. The UK has pressed for unfettered access directly with the Burmese government though ministerial and senior official calls and meetings, and as part of joint calls with other agencies and development partners working in Burma. The UK has also raised Burma three times at the UN Security Council. DFID has provided £1 million to the Burma Red Cross, which currently has limited access to Northern Rakhine. DFID is ready to support our partners already working in central Rakhine to act quickly to provide support in Northern Rakhine as soon as fuller access is granted.