Burma Update

Valerie said:

“During my time in Parliament I have raised the issue of Burma a number of times with Ministers and the Leader of the House at Business Questions.”

“Last week we were reminded that the Army is still in charge with a UN reporting that the death toll of Muslims killed by the Burmese army may be extremely high and that more than half-a-million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh.”

“United Nations officials have described the Army’s actions – killing, torture, rape and arson – as ethnic cleansing.”

“The Labour Party’s Manifesto 2017 committed a Labour Government to have discussions with different Governments, including Myanmar, to ‘urge respect for human rights and the rule of law. We will review all training and equipment contracts with repressive regimes, to ensure that Britain never colludes in the mistreatment of civilians.'”

“Speaking at the UN general assembly in New York on 20 September 2017, the Prime Minister announced that ‘we are going to stop all defence engagement and training of the Burmese military by the Ministry of Defence until this issue is resolved.'”

“In a speech at the Labour Party Conference speech on Wednesday 27 September 2017, Jeremy Corbyn called on Aung San Suu Kyi to ‘end the violence now against the Rohingya in Myanmar and allow the UN and international aid agencies into Rakhine state. The Rohingya have suffered for too long.'”

“I have written to the Minister for Asia and the Pacific, and his response is available here“