Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Myanmar on the need for that Government to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission.

The Rakhine Advisory Commission presented its final report on 24 August. The Foreign Secretary convened a meeting of Foreign Ministers on the Rakhine crisis at the UN on 18 September, and in it called on Burma's National Security Adviser and Deputy Foreign Minister, both present, to ensure rapid implementation of the recommendations of Rakhine Advisory Commission by Burma's Government. I reiterated this in my meetings with Burma's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 20 September and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 27 September. I emphasised Britain's readiness to support the Burmese government in implementation of the recommendations. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi on 21 October and stressed the importance of her implementing the steps she had set out in her 12 October speech, which included the long-term development of Rakhine in line with the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission. The UK proposed and secured unanimous support from the UN Security Council for a Presidential Statement on 6 November which urged all parts of the Government of Burma to work together to implement the Commission's recommendations swiftly and in full.