Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Burmese authorities about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma.

We remain deeply concerned by the situation of the Rohingya. They continue to suffer severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, on their access to livelihoods, schools, healthcare and places of worship. The UN and other agencies continue to struggle to gain unhindered humanitarian access in Rakhine State. Burma’s refusal to recognise citizenship claims of the Rohingya has compounded the denial of the most basic rights.

We have raised our concern at the situation of the Rohingya community in all of our recent Ministerial contacts with the Burmese government. Most recently, I asked the Burmese Ambassador in London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 18 May to express our concern at the situation of Rohingya and the related migrant crisis in the Bay of Bengal. I urged Burma to take swift steps to deal with the humanitarian implications of the crisis, as well as the underlying causes in Rakhine.