§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the resignation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma, Mr Rajsoomer Lallah, was due to the lack of resources to fulfil his mandate; and whether they will give more funding to support his work. [HL4587]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has confirmed that Judge Lallah, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, resigned on 2 November. We have not seen his letters of resignation to the High Commissioner and to the Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, which are confidential.
On the question of funding of such rapporteurs, they are supported by OHCHR. Given the importance 68WA the UK attaches to this key UN body, we voluntarily provide them considerable extra funds over and above our UN regular budget contributions.