Imran questioned the Government on what they are doing to aid the Rohingyan refugees fleeing persecution in Burma.

Following on from his recent Parliamentary motion calling for more action to help the Rohingya and focusing on the Government’s engagement with South East Asian states, Mr Hussain asked the Government what action they are taking to encourage these states to protect the human rights of the Rohingya and provide them with much needed asylum.

In his response, Hugo Swire MP, Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Asia states that the Government has instructed UK embassies in the region to lobby governments and urge them to uphold their obligations, work together to tackle people smuggling and provide humanitarian aid to refugees.

Speaking on the questions and replies, Imran said:

“Although I welcome that the Government is engaging with South East Asian countries to urge them to uphold their international obligations, it is clear that much more still needs to be done to help the Rohingya.

“The crisis that we are seeing with Rohingyan refugees fleeing Burma in desperate circumstances shows no signs of relenting and each day we are confronted with evidence that they are abused and persecuted in Burma.

“I will therefore continue to press the Government to engage constructively with South East Asian states and to ensure that the crisis remains their priority in the region, and to urge them to review aid funding for Burma in light of their persecution of the Rohingya and violation of their human rights.”