Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to evidence suggesting genocidal techniques being used by the government of Burma against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, Christian minorities in Kachin, and other protected groups, including (1) killing members of those groups, (2) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of those groups, and (3) deliberately inflicting on those groups conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.

The Foreign Secretary has been clear that ethnic cleansing has taken place in Rakhine, and that the violence of August and September 2017 may even constitute genocide, though that would be a determination for an international court to make. We are supporting the UN Fact Finding Mission into human rights violations and abuses in Burma, in particular Rakhine; we await its final report in September 2018. On 31 May, the Burmese Government announced a Commission of Inquiry. We have made clear that there must be a credible, transparent and impartial investigation, which holds to account the perpetrators of atrocities in Rakhine State.

As I told the House of Lords on 12 June, the Government is currently unable to make a full assessment of the situation in Kachin State due to access restrictions.