Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate British companies involved in supplying aviation fuel to the armed forces of the government of Myanmar; and what sanctions, if any, they are considering for such companies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-myanmar-burma/overseas-business-risk-myanmar-burma to make it clear UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities, such as aviation fuel do not reach the Myanmar military. Amnesty International's thorough report on the aviation fuel supply chain in Myanmar indicates that no British companies are involved in supplying aviation fuel to the armed forces. The UK has been clear that we oppose the provision of jet fuel, arms, military equipment, and dual use items to Myanmar which are used to facilitate human rights violations. We cannot speculate on future sanctions designations but we are looking at a range of further targets and other measures.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to prevent British companies from providing insurance services to vessels delivering aviation fuel to the government of Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-myanmar-burma/overseas-business-risk-myanmar-burma to make it clear UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities, such as aviation fuel do not reach the Myanmar military. Amnesty International's thorough report on the aviation fuel supply chain in Myanmar indicates that no British companies are involved in supplying aviation fuel to the armed forces. The UK has been clear that we oppose the provision of jet fuel, arms, military equipment, and dual use items to Myanmar which are used to facilitate human rights violations. We cannot speculate on future sanctions designations but we are looking at a range of further targets and other measures.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with Tesco on the pay and conditions of workers in Burma who produce clothing for its F&F brand.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No discussions have taken place on this matter.
The UK has consistently supported the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on business and human rights, which are widely regarded as the authoritative international framework to steer practical action by Governments and businesses worldwide on this important agenda. Implementation of the UNGPs supports access to justice and remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuses, wherever these occur, and encourages businesses to voluntarily adopt due diligence approaches to respecting human rights.
The Government is clear that it expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UNGPs. In 2015 we introduced the Modern Slavery Act which requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to publish an annual modern slavery statement stating the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
The Government expects companies to report transparently about how they are mitigating modern slavery risks and to use their modern slavery statements to demonstrate year on year progress. This enables consumers, shareholders and civil society to scrutinise the efforts being made.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to ensure that British accreditation and verification companies operating in Burma are not providing services to Burmese military-owned companies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for International Trade publishes guidance setting out what UK businesses can do, this was last updated in February 2022. The guidance makes it clear the UK businesses should conduct thorough due diligence to avoid inadvertently supporting military-linked businesses in Myanmar.
We have a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar, as well as multiple targeted sanctions on the military and its associated businesses. We have clear penalties for breaches of sanctions. We will continue to closely monitor how the military finances and equips itself and we will continue to use sanctions as a lever to put pressure on those who support the military.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help secure the release of political prisoners in Burma; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the unlawful detention of political opponents, civil society, journalists and human rights defenders. On 27 July 2022, the UK secured a UN Security Council (UNSC) Press Statement condemning the execution of prisoners and calling for the release of all those in arbitrary detention. On 17 November 2022, the Foreign Secretary stated that all those unjustly imprisoned in Myanmar should be released. We will continue to use all available fora, including the UNSC, to raise these concerns.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the Women’s League of Burma and Burma Campaign UK to institute a comprehensive global arms embargo.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a longstanding supporter of an arms embargo on Myanmar. We are clear that countries should not sell arms to the Myanmar military. On 27 March, the UK coordinated a joint statement with 48 signatories that committed us to working to prevent the flow of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military. We have also worked with international partners at the G7, UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.to secure strong language on stopping the flow of arms.
We have extensive targeted sanctions on the military and its business interests, including on multiple institutions responsible for procuring weapons from abroad. We are working closely with partners on next steps, including securing further commitments from the international community to halt the transfer of arms, equipment and spare parts to the military.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the Women’s League of Burma and Burma Campaign UK to refer the situation on human rights in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is clear that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar. We condemn the ongoing serious human rights violations committed by the Myanmar military, including the historic atrocities against the Rohingya. These actions require further scrutiny, and the UK is supportive of any attempts to bring these issues before the International Criminal Court.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the Women’s League of Burma and Burma Campaign UK to enact targeted sanctions against (1) the Burmese military, and (2) its proxies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the UK Government has imposed 12 tranches of sanctions targeting the military's leadership, and its access to revenue, arms and military equipment.
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance to make it clear that UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities such as aviation fuel do not reach the Myanmar military. The UK is exploring both sanction and non-sanction measures to tackle the Myanmar military's air capabilities and ability to target civilians.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the Women’s League of Burma and Burma Campaign UK to impose aviation fuel sanctions on Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the UK Government has imposed 12 tranches of sanctions targeting the military's leadership, and its access to revenue, arms and military equipment.
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance to make it clear that UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities such as aviation fuel do not reach the Myanmar military. The UK is exploring both sanction and non-sanction measures to tackle the Myanmar military's air capabilities and ability to target civilians.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of Southampton University on releasing the correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Mountbatten for open public access.
Answered by Matt Warman
The correspondence between Lady Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru is held in a private collection. The papers are not owned by the University of Southampton nor are they public records. We have, therefore, had no discussions with the University on releasing the correspondence for open public access.