After recognising widespread concern among our membership about the crisis unfolding in Rakhine State, Burma, UNA-UK ran a letter-writing campaign urging the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to take action to protect the Rohingya population in Burma.
For the past three weeks, UNA-UK has been compiling letters from its members and supporters calling on the UK government to use its position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and its influence with the US and EU, to push for:
- A Security Council resolution reminding the Burmese government of its responsibility to protect all populations within its borders, and agreeing to the dispatch of international monitors to report on the ongoing situation (in addition to the visits made to date by foreign government representatives, including the UK)
- An inclusive process of national reconciliation involving all communities within Burma
- Neighbouring states, with the assistance of the UN and the international community, to help those fleeing violence
Today, Alexandra Buskie, UNA-UK's Responsibility to Protect Programme Officer, and Ben Donaldson, UNA-UK's Communications and Campaigns Officer, hand-delivered more than 130 of these letters to the FCO, along with a cover letter from UNA-UK Chairman Sir Jeremy Greenstock to Baroness Warsi, Minister with responsibility for the UN and Human Rights.
Action Update
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister with responsibility for South East Asia, The Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP, replied to Sir Jeremy Greenstock's letter regarding the protection of the Rohingya on 13 January 2013.
Click here to read about the reply from FCO Minister Hugo Swire
Read more about UNA-UK's campaign calling for action to protect the Rohingya.
