Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13390), what further steps they will take to ensure the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar are respected.

The UK stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their call for democracy. To this end the UK is working to ensure a strong and coordinated international response. As well as sanctions, the UK has secured strong statements through the G7 and UN Security Council. Most recently we secured a UN Security Council Press Statement on 10 November urging the military to end violence, protect civilians and ensure full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We worked to secure G7 Statements and a UN General Assembly Resolution on preventing the flow of arms to Myanmar and continue to work with partners to put pressure on those selling arms to the military. We are engaging with pro-democracy voices, including the NUG who the Minister for Asia met on 4 November. We are bolstering support to human rights monitoring and evidence gathering, including providing £500,000 to the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, to ensure that there is a spotlight on human rights violations by the military. The UK has provided humanitarian assistance to over 500,000 people since the coup. Our humanitarian assistance includes water and sanitation, nutrition and lifesaving food. Our work on livelihoods, financial inclusion and food security continues to focus on reaching the most vulnerable and in the first half of 2021 has reached over 3 million households. The UK is supporting diverse civil society and pro-democracy voices, including women's rights organisations, LGBT+ groups and youth, to enable them to contribute to peacebuilding and to build a common vision for the future. We will continue to work closely with partners, particularly in ASEAN, to seek a resolution to the crisis in Myanmar.