The Government has been consistently clear in its condemnation of the terrible atrocities that have occurred in Rakhine State and the need to bring the perpetrators to justice. The UK has already suspended Burmese senior military visits and defence education. At the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 26 February Council conclusions were adopted on Burma. The UK was instrumental in securing agreement to begin the process of introducing targeted sanctions on individual senior military officers responsible for serious and systematic human rights violations.The UK supports the UNHRC Fact-Finding Mission to establish the facts and circumstances of the human rights violations and continues to urge the Burmese government to allow for unrestricted and unhindered access to the Mission.

The Government remains deeply concerned by the current situation in Rakhine and the persecution of the Muslim minority Rohingya community. The UK Government has repeatedly engaged the Government of Burma to urge a restrained security response, an independent investigation into allegations of human rights abuses, and for the immediate resumption of access for humanitarian aid. The Minister of State Rory Stewart raised the issue personally with Burmese ministers in recent meetings in Burma and the UK.

The Government of Burma has now committed to restoring humanitarian access and investigating allegations of human rights abuses. We will continue to monitor and support the delivery of these commitments. The UK Government has also called on the Government of Bangladesh not to return the people seeking refuge back into danger and we continue to offer support through our work with IOM and the World Food Programme. The UK is the largest provider of food aid to the 34,000 Rohingya refugees already living in official camps in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh we are also increasing access to nutrition, health and education services for refugees living in makeshift settlements and the host communities that support them.

Pursuing transitional justice is important for long-term peace and stability in Kenya. We acknowledge the steps taken by the Government of Kenya to address the needs of some victims of post-election violence. The UK encourages greater efforts by the Government of Kenya to promote reconciliation and make further substantial progress on this agenda. It is therefore essential that the needs of the victims continue to be placed at the centre of efforts to deliver justice.

Since 1988 the number of polio cases worldwide has decreased by more than 99%, from 350,000 to 389 in 2013. There were 53 confirmed polio cases in Nigeria in 2013, a reduction from 122 cases in 2012. The UK supports the Global Polio Eradication initiative (GPEI) which works closely with non-governmental organisations, community groups and religious leaders to improve awareness about polio and to negotiate access to insecure areas, to ensure health workers are safe and vulnerable children are vaccinated. In addition to the UK’s support to GPEI, DFID has supported efforts in Nigeria to improve the security of vaccine workers by addressing the root causes of vaccine non-compliance and building community trust.

We have not raised the specific issue of international monitors. We have, however, emphasised to the Burmese Government the need for a greater security presence in Rakhine State to protect all civilians and to prevent further violence. We have

also called for unrestricted access for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations to provide humanitarian support.

The Burmese Government have, to date, allowed independent observers from foreign Governments and international organisations to visit the areas affected by the violence. Officials from the British embassy have visited Rakhine State on numerous occasions, including the British ambassador, who led the first independent diplomatic mission to Rakhine State in early October and visited again in early November.

The satellite images obtained by Human Rights Watch of the town of Kyauk Pyu, as part of its 27 October report Burma: New Violence in Arakan State, provide a further indication of the unstable security environment which exists across Northern Rakhine State.

Having led the first independent diplomatic mission to the areas affected by violence in early October, on 1 November our ambassador in Rangoon visited Kyauk Pyu and saw for himself the destruction of the neighbourhood. The satellite images are clear evidence of what appears to have been pre-planned and systematic violent attacks. He also visited former residents of the area, currently living in makeshift internally displaced person camps outside the town.

The UK continues to urge the Burmese Government to put in place measures to bring the violence to an end. This point was reiterated by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), to the Burmese Charge d’Affaires on 29 October. The Foreign Secretary, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised our concerns with Burmese President Thein Sein directly on 6 November at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Laos. This followed calls for an end to the violence in our respective public statements of 24 and 28 October.

We are aware of unconfirmed reports of a helicopter originating in Rakhine State firing on boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing Burma. We are continuing to clarify the situation, but have no further information on the validity of these reports at this stage.

The recent inter-communal violence in Rakhine State in western Burma has highlighted the fragility of the situation in Burma and has drawn further and much needed attention to the plight of the Rohingya.

Reports vary on the precise number of deaths and numbers of those arrested from both the Rohingya and Rakhine communities. We are continuing to try and clarify these numbers, though given the difficulty in obtaining indicative figures, it would not be appropriate to comment further. We remain deeply concerned by

the nature of the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State which we continue to monitor very closely, and our Embassy in Rangoon is in regular contact with members of the Rohingya community.