Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights mission to Bangladesh concerning Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar, published on 3 February.

We are concerned by UN reports of human rights violations committed by the military in Rakhine state. We understand that since 9 October at least 66,000 refugees have fled across the border into Bangladesh.

We have repeatedly urged for a restrained security response in Rakhine, an independent investigation into allegations of human rights abuses and the immediate resumption of humanitarian access. During his recent visit to Burma, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), met State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as well as military-appointed Government Ministers, and expressed our deep concern about the current situation in Rakhine and the situation of the refugees. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Alok Sharma), raised this situation in Rakhine with the Burmese Speaker of Parliament when he visited London on 24 January 2017. I also raised these issues with Burmese Ministers during my visit to Burma last November.

We are currently taking action with EU and International partners ahead of the Human Rights Council in March to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur under an Item 4 Resolution. Her role has been critical in documenting human rights violations by the security forces in Rakhine.