Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Bangladesh on ensuring that no Rohingya refugees are forcibly returned to Burma.

I have repeatedly called on the Government of Bangladesh to make sure that any returns of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Burma are voluntary, safe and dignified. I raised this with the High Commissioner Nazmul Quaunine on 9 January 2018, with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on 30 November 2017, and Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque on 2 November 2017. Officials in Dhaka regularly raise this with the Government of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has committed in its agreement with Burma to voluntary returns in safety, security, and dignity.

The UK was instrumental in achieving a United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement on 6 November 2017 that agreed the return of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Burma should be voluntary, safe and dignified, and called on the Governments of Bangladesh and Burma to make sure these conditions were met.