§ 23. Vera BairdTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Burma. [123888]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe situation in Burma is of grave concern to this Government. We have repeatedly called on the Burmese authorities to release immediately Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy members detained on or since 30 May 2003. The regimes responses to events so far have been unacceptable. The UK will ensure that pressure is maintained and increased on the Burmese regime to move irreversibly towards democracy and respect for human rights.
§ Mr. DhandaTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of the decision by member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations to allow Burma to take over the presidency of the organisation in 2006; and what discussions he has had with ASEAN about this decision. [124514]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWe are concerned that Burma is to take over the presidency of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006. We take advantage of our regular bilateral and multilateral contacts with all ASEAN nations to discuss Burma related issues, most recently on 17 June 2003 at the ASEAN Regional Forum. We welcome the recent joint statement from the ASEAN Foreign Ministers, which looked forward to the early lifting o f restrictions placed on Aung San Suu Kyi. We hope that this will lead to more action on behalf of ASEAN members in the future. We believe that the ASEAN nations have an important role to play in encouraging substantive change in Burma.