Foreign Affairs Committee launches new inquiry into crisis in Myanmar

The inquiry will examine the current and future actions planned by the UK Government, while also focusing on the UK’s ability to utilise multilateral institutions and organisations, such as the United Nations Security Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Chair's comment

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, said:

“In recent months, deeply distressing reports of flagrant human rights abuses and killings have emerged from Myanmar.

“Efforts to curb the violence and brutality through the imposition of sanctions have, unfortunately, fallen short. More must be done, and as the United Nations Security Council’s penholder on Myanmar, the UK is in a unique position to drive the international community’s response.

“This urgent inquiry will determine how the Government can improve its response to the crisis, as well as how the UK can use its influence in organisations such as the UN to help deliver a peaceful resolution for the people of Myanmar.”

The Committee welcomes evidence on the following points

• How can the Government improve its response to the crisis in Myanmar? How can it coordinate more effectively with international allies to influence a peaceful resolution to the crisis?
• What was the impact of the February sanctions on regime officials? What further action is needed?
• What steps should the UK be taking to support justice and redress for civilians affected by the violence?
• What opportunities does the UK’s new status as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner bring for mediation?
• Is the Government making full use of the UK’s position as the UN Security Council Penholder on Myanmar? What further action should it be taking through the Security Council?
• Is the FCDO’s in-country resourcing sufficient? Are diplomats and other officials working in Myanmar given adequate training and support?

Form of written evidence

Submissions should be no longer than 2,000 words. The main body of any submission should use numbered paragraphs. Each submission should contain: 

• a short summary, perhaps in bullet point form;
• a brief introduction about the person or organisation submitting evidence, for example explaining their area of expertise or experience;
• any factual information from which the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses;
• any recommendations for action by the Government or others which the submitter would like the Committee to consider for inclusion in its report to the House.

Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour or logos. Guidance on submitting written evidence and data protection information is available here: Guidance on submitting written evidence. 

Deadline for submissions 

The Committee is asking for initial written evidence to be submitted through the Committee’s web portal by midnight on 18 May 2021.  

It is recommended that all submitters familiarise themselves with the Guidance on giving evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons which outlines particulars of word count, format, document size, and content restrictions. 

Diversity 

We encourage members of underrepresented groups to submit written evidence. We aim to have diverse panels of Select Committee witnesses and ask organisations to bear this in mind when we ask them to choose a representative. We are currently monitoring the diversity of our witnesses. 

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

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