To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle incidences of hate speech directed against Muslim minorities in Myanmar.
Answered on
11 April 2019
The UK continues to be deeply concerned by the incidences of hate speech in Myanmar. Our Ambassador discussed the impact of social media on intercommunal relations and the necessity of interfaith dialogues in his meeting with the Minister for Religious Affairs on 9 August. Our Embassy continues to work with local partners in Myanmar to tackle this issue.
The British Government continues to raise Myanmar at the UN Human Rights Council. We played a leading role, working with EU partners and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and secured a UN Human Rights Council Resolution on 27 September that sets out the steps the Government of Myanmar should take to address the spread of discrimination and prejudice and to combat the incitement to hatred against the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, by publicly condemning such acts and enacting necessary anti-hate speech laws.
We further secured a UN Human Rights Resolution in March which called upon the Government of Myanmar to step up action to combat incitement to violence and hate speech.