HC Deb 15 January 1997 vol 288 cc314-5
12. Mrs. Fyfe

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support democratic forces in Burma. [9244]

Mr. Hanley

We continue to take action, nationally and with our European Union partners, to put pressure on the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council to implement democratic reform and full respect for human rights in Burma.

Mrs. Fyfe

In view of Aung San Suu Kyi's statement at Christmas that repression in Burma is getting worse, will the Minister say whether there are any European Union proposals to impose sanctions? Is there any truth in the rumour that the United Kingdom and France are seeking to delay sanctions? If there is, how much worse does the situation in Burma have to become before he agrees to impose sanctions?

Mr. Hanley

The United Kingdom has set out its policy to Parliament on many occasions. Our priority is to support democratic reform and respect for human rights in Burma through the policy of critical dialogue. We believe that that will achieve more than total sanctions. We have recently adopted a European Union common position on Burma, which has imposed a ban on entry visas for senior members of the ruling council and for senior military and security force officials, as well as a ban on high-level bilateral visits to Burma. Combined with our suspension of non-humanitarian official aid, that means that we are doing a great deal to try to help persuade the ruling junta that it should accept democratic principles. We continue to raise our concerns bilaterally through our ambassador, Robert Gordon, in Rangoon. I summoned the Burmese ambassador only last month to urge dialogue with pro-democracy groups.

Sir Cranley Onslow

The House will be glad to have heard what my hon. Friend said, but will he go further? Is it not time that we discouraged British tourists from going to Burma and supporting that regime?

Mr. Hanley

The European common position does not ban tourism. We have no plans to discourage, or encourage, tourism to Burma. If our citizens were to find travel there dangerous, our policy might change but, at present, we believe that it is up to individuals to decide. We take great pains to try to inform individuals not only of the risks involved were they to go to Burma but of the nature of the regime that they would encounter.

Rev. Martin Smyth

We welcome what the Government have been doing, but does not the Minister think that more should be done to side with people who stayed with us in the fight against Nazism in the last war and to support the Karen people?

Mr. Hanley

I thoroughly agree about support for the Karen people, who have suffered something akin to genocide. We greatly deplore that and we have supplied considerable humanitarian aid in the border regions of Burma, and will continue to do so.