Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the government of Burma reported threats that ethnic Rohingya identifying themselves as such in the census could face arrest.

Mr Hugo Swire

We have not received reports of anyone facing arrest for identifying themselves as Rohingya in Burma’s census; the enumeration period is now over. However, we were deeply disappointed that during the census the Burmese government went against its long-standing assurance that all individuals would have the right to self-identify their ethnic origin. We have been clear that this decision is in contravention of international norms and standards on census conduct. I discussed our concerns on the census with the senior Burmese minister responsible, Immigration Minister U Khin Yi, in March, and summoned the Burmese Ambassador in April.

The UK, UN and other donors have been in dialogue with the Burmese government and community groups throughout the preparation, enumeration and now the data analysis and dissemination stages of the census. We have been absolutely clear that we want to see as peaceful, credible and complete a process as possible, with the anticipated risks carefully managed.