Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on incidents of sexual violence committed by the Burmese army; and what representations he has made to the Burmese government on that matter.

We recognise that sexual violence in Burma remains a significant problem and are focused on practical action to tackle it. This includes pressing the Burmese government to live up to the commitments it made when it endorsed the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict at the London Global Summit in June 2014

During his visit to Burma in July, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), pressed the Burmese government at Senior Ministerial level on the issue and launched the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence. We continue to press the agenda in international fora, including through UN resolutions on Burma at the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, which we co-sponsor. At Friday’s Universal Periodic Review of Burma at the UN in Geneva, we focused our recommendations on ending sexual violence and the rights of women and girls, as well as on tackling the desperate situation in Rakhine State for the Rohingya community.