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DFID regularly receives representations about providing assistance and support in Burma to each of these four groups and considers each seriously. For example, in planning a new fund to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Burma we are carrying out extensive and detailed discussions with opposition groups, civil society groups and other non-governmental organisations. Representations have recently been made at meetings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Burma on 28 February, 19 and 26 April, and the Burma Forum in Brussels on 29 March on behalf of all of these groups, with the greatest emphasis on organisations working with refugees and internally displaced peoples.In Rangoon, the regular representations we receive from a wide range of groups are most frequently concerned with providing support to civil society in Burma. I have also recently received representations from a number of members of the House of Commons arguing for increased support to organisations working with refugees and internally displaced people living near the Thai-Burma border. In response to the increased vulnerability of those internally displaced people, DFID is, with the UN and local community leaders, currently assessing the possibility of providing assistance to these internally displaced people through local community mechanisms. Subsequently, DFID will be carrying out a fundamental review of the level and means of our support to internally displaced people and refugees in Burma. |