To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect (a) the Rohingya population in Myanmar and (b) children in that community.
Answered on
9 January 2017
The Government has repeatedly raised concerns about the plight of the Rohingya community in Burma. I last raised this when I met the Burmese Minister of Construction on 29 November. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE also raised our concerns when she visited Burma from 9-12 November. We are particularly concerned for the welfare of the estimated 3,400 children who were suffering from severe acute malnutrition prior to the flare up in violence in Rakhine following the 9 October attacks on the Burmese border posts. We have called on the Government of Burma to resume immediately humanitarian aid and to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of human rights violations. The Investigation Commission has now been established and will report back by 31 January 2017.