Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of sanctions imposed as part of the Government response to the ongoing political and humanitarian situation in Myanmar.

The UK is a longstanding supporter of sanctions on the Myanmar military. Since the start of the coup, under the UK autonomous Myanmar and Global Human Rights regimes we have sanctioned nine individuals and three entities relating to the military. Additionally the Myanmar regulations prohibit the provision of military related services, including the provision of technical assistance, to or for the benefit of the Tatmadaw. We work closely with partners to pressure those who have not implemented such systems. Our approach to sanctions is to pursue targeted sanctions, this ensures that we are designating high impact targets whilst remaining committed to the principle of 'do no harm' with sanctions, to ensure that any measures balance the risk of disproportionately affecting innocent people. By working with partners such as the EU, US and Canada to sanction military officers and military owned conglomerates we have been able to put pressure on economic interests and also send a signal to the international community that we oppose the actions of the military. We are exploring all options to put further pressure on their economic interests.