§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to urge the Government of Vietnam to allow diplomats from(a) the UK and (b) other EU embassies 1333W to visit the Central Highlands in order to investigate the human rights situation with regard to the Degar people. [179532]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWe regularly raise our concerns on human rights in Vietnam with the Vietnamese Government, both bilaterally and with our EU partners. Most recently, on 25 May, I raised the situation in the Central Highlands of Vietnam with the Vietnamese President. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also raised our general concerns over human rights the same day with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister.
We will continue to press the Vietnamese Government to allow unrestricted access at all times to the Central Highlands by diplomats, international press, UN agencies and international NGOs. In May, a group of several diplomatic missions comprising the Swiss, Norwegian, New Zealand and Canadian ambassadors visited the Central Highlands, as did a group of UN agency heads. An EU Troika delegation visited the region for the fourth time since 2001 on 16 to 19 December 2003. Further EU missions are planned in the future. EU ambassadors, including the British ambassador regularly raise the issue of access to the Central Highlands in the context of the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue; the next meeting is on 22 June.