Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure the welfare of the two Burmese students who were arrested shortly after visiting the UK on a programme designed to build representative student unions in that country.

We remain in contact with the four Burmese students who visited the UK in May and are monitoring the case of Zayar Lwin who was arrested on 7 July after participating in a protest rally at the end of June. Two others have been charged in absentia, but not arrested. More widely, we have called for all remaining student protestors to be released from prison and for repressive legislation still on the statute books to be amended. Our Embassy in Rangoon closely monitors the cases of political prisoners and student protestors who have been charged and remain in detention. Representatives from our Embassy in Rangoon attended the most recent trial hearing in Thuyawaddy on 13 October of the students arrested following the Letpadan protests in March.