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 to Amnesty International’s claim that the Myanmar authorities’ treatment of Rohingya amounts to apartheid; and what steps they plan to take, if any, in response.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains deeply concerned by ongoing discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar. We will continue to use our role at the UN Security Council to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar, including the treatment of the Rohingya, the need for unhindered humanitarian access and for the root causes of the conflict in Rakhine State to be addressed. The UK supports efforts to strengthen accountability in Myanmar. We have provided over £600,000 to the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, and established the Myanmar Witness project, in order to collect and preserve evidence of human rights violations, including against the Rohingya.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Sumbul Rizvi, the UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, regarding the security situation for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, in particular regarding any increases of serious protection incidents, including reports of killings, torture, abductions and sexual and gender-based violence; and to what extent they take such matters into account in determining the amount and nature of support they provide to Rohinya refugees there.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned at the increase in serious protection incidents in the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. The UK regularly discusses protection and security challenges for Rohingya refugees with UNHCR, including what more can be done to try to address these issues through programme interventions, and how to support the Government of Bangladesh in their efforts to ensure security in the camps. UK programming is addressing protection issues in the camps, including helping UNICEF tackle child labour and child marriage, and supporting UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) in preventing and addressing gender-based violence. The UK also supports a consortium of International NGOs, led by Norwegian Refugee Council, to address the drivers and impact of protection incidents.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many Rohingya refugees are in Cox’s Bazar; what discussions they have had with the government of Bangladesh concerning (1) the protection of refugees in Cox's Bazar, and (2) future arrangements for their protection.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
According to the latest UN figures, there are 942,776 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazaar. The UK is committed to improving the security of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and we regularly engage the Government of Bangladesh, UN and NGOs on protection issues. UK funding (over £373 million to the Rohingya response since 2017) includes ongoing support to protection services in the camps. We will continue to monitor the security situation in the camps and raise concerns with the UN and Government of Bangladesh.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Bangladesh in response to its statement on 7 February that it will not allow any more Rohingya refugees to enter the country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned about the escalation of fighting in Rakhine state, Myanmar, and the impact on civilians on both sides of the border with Bangladesh. We are monitoring the situation closely. UK officials in Dhaka continue to engage with the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations on this issue. We will continue to support affected Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The UK is a leading donor to the Rohingya response. Since 2017, we have provided over £373 million to Bangladesh and over £30 million for the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in Myanmar.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department has provided to healthcare projects for Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in the Rakhine state.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department provided to the International Organization for Migration for healthcare projects for the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department has provided to NGOs to help support Rohingya people in Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of police abuses in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to improving the security of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. We engage regularly with the UN, NGOs and the Government of Bangladesh on protection issues, and we spoke with the government about security issues last month. UK funding (over £373 million to the Rohingya response since 2017) includes ongoing support to protection services in the camps. We will continue to monitor the security situation in the camps.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will consider increasing their funding for the World Food Programme to enable the Programme to restore its monthly food vouchers for Rohingya refugees to the full value of 12.50 US dollars.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK prioritised food provision in its Rohingya response programme in 2023, providing £14.8m of food support in Cox's Bazar delivered by the World Food Programme and other UN agencies. Food rations were increased in January 2024. The UK was the second largest bilateral donor to the food response in Cox's Bazar in 2023. We will continue to prioritise food support in our future response.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, in their capacity as penholder for Myanmar at the UN Security Council, to help find solutions to the Rohingya refugee crisis, and particularly to create the conditions necessary for safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to use our UN Security Council (UNSC) penholder role to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar, including the Rohingya. In December 2022, the UNSC passed a landmark resolution on Myanmar, led by the UK, which stressed the need to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State and create the conditions for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees. In December, at the Global Refugee Forum, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific reiterated this commitment. We will continue to use our platform in multilateral fora to reiterate UK support for sustainable solutions to improve the conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine State.