Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to send an expert team to gather evidence on sexual violence as a weapon of war against Rohingya women in Myanmar, and other possible crimes.

The UK has been consistently clear about the importance of transparent investigations into allegations of human rights violations, and holding to account all those responsible for such acts. I urged an independent investigation of reports of atrocities and incidents of sexual violence when I met Burma's Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor on 20 November

The Government recently deployed two civilian experts to Bangladesh to conduct a capacity needs assessment on investigation and documentation of sexual violence perpetrated against members of the Rohingya community. Officials are considering how the UK can swiftly take forward their recommendations to ensure that fresh evidence is gathered to international standards and in a manner which upholds the principle of "Do No Harm".