To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made about the levels of sectarian attacks on Rohingya Muslims.
Answered on
21 October 2015
British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity to raise the plight of the Rohingya community with their Burmese counterparts. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with the Burmese Foreign Minister in New York on 29 September. During his visit to Burma in July, Mr Swire travelled to Rakhine State to see the situation there at first hand, and raised the situation of the Rohingya at senior level both in Rakhine and with Burmese central government ministers.
Whilst there have not been any new incidents of major inter-communal violence towards the Rohingya Muslims, the situation remains tense and many root causes are unresolved. We are keeping the situation in Rakhine State under close review as the 8 November general elections approach. Within the last month, teams from our Embassy in Rangoon have visited both north and south Rakhine to assess the situation.