Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for the UN Secretary-General to visit Burma as a matter of urgency to negotiate humanitarian aid access to Rakhine State, Burma.

The UN Secretary General visited Burma and raised humanitarian issues with Aung San Suu Kyi in August 2016. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, also raised issues of humanitarian access with Aung San Suu Kyi during his October 2016 visit to Burma.

The UK, along with other countries and the UN, continues to urge the Government of Burma to allow immediate unrestricted access for humanitarian aid. The Government of Burma has now committed to restoring humanitarian access and we are pressing for, and stand ready to support, the delivery of this commitment.