Biography information for Lord Harrington of Watford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Harrington of Watford on Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

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Mr Hugo Swire

The UK is giving £12m in aid to Rakhine State to support shelter, water sanitation and hygiene programmes, nutrition and protection activities, as well as non-food items for 115,000 people. We are also funding £4.5m towards livelihoods projects in Rakhine and support to the UN’s coordination of the international humanitarian response.

We remain one of the most vocal and active members of the international community in supporting those calling for human rights and democracy in Burma. I was the first Western Minister to visit Rakhine State in December 2012. I raised concerns again with the Burmese government during my second visit to Burma in January this year, and I again saw Rohingya leaders to hear from them about the many issues they are facing.

The plight of the Rohingya was also at the top of the agenda during the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron’s) meeting with President Thein Sein in London in July 2013. In March this year, I summoned the Burmese Ambassador and called on the Burmese government urgently to restore humanitarian access to all communities in need, and to ensure the security of humanitarian aid workers and all communities in Rakhine State. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks), again raised our concerns in a call with his Burmese counterpart in April, and I most recently discussed the situation with the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister on 12 June.

We will continue to urge the Burmese government to take swift and decisive action to protect the lives and rights of Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine State, and to address the underlying causes of ethnic and religious discrimination and violence.