Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to address the escalating conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan States in Burma, and the reported human rights violations by the Burma Army against civilians.
The UK is concerned about the intensifying conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan states, including disturbing and credible reports of human rights abuses and violations. The UK ensured specific references to the situation in Shan and Kachin in the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on Human Rights in Burma in March 2018. The British Ambassador visited Kachin State in January 2018 to discuss the situation with local political and religious leaders, and visited an Internally Displaced Persons camp. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific called on 28 April for the Burmese military to show restraint and to protect civilians following a surge in violence in Kachin. The UK contributed £6.1 million in the financial year 2017-18 to humanitarian assistance for conflict affected people in Kachin and Northern Shan States, including in non-government controlled areas.