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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received concerning the ongoing State Peace and Development (SPDC) offensives in Karen and Karenni states in recent weeks; and if he will now make urgent representations to the SPDC regime in Burma concerning those offensives. [185571] Mr. Mike O'Brien: We welcome the oral ceasefire agreement between the SPDC and the Karen National Union (KNU) and hope that this will lead to a lasting peace settlement. But we remain concerned that offensives continue. We regularly raise our concerns on human rights in Burma with the Burmese regime including the suffering of ethnic groups such as the Karen and Karenni, most recently when I met the Burmese ambassador on 1 June. Human rights violations have been highlighted by successive highly critical UK and EU co-sponsored UN Resolutions, most recently at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 21 April. This referred to the violations of human rights suffered in particular by persons belonging to ethnic minorities, women and children, especially in non-ceasefire areas and the situation of the large number of internally displaced persons as well as the flow of refugees to neighbouring countries. It emphasised the obligations of Burma under international law to pursue through dialogue and peaceful means the immediate suspension and permanent end of conflict with all ethnic groups in the country and to conclude a ceasefire agreement with the KNU.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

424 c535-6W;424 c536W; 185571

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Armed conflict Human rights Ethnic groups Politics and government Peace Myanmar Peace negotiations

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk