6 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis 1 Introduction Previous reports 1. In October 2017 we commenced an inquiry into DFID’s work in Bangladesh and Burma and the Rohingya crisis. Due to the severity and urgency of the unfolding plight of the Rohingya refugees we have published two reports on that situation in advance of completing this wider look at the two countries DFID programmes.2 These earlier reports complement this one. 2. The first report in the series examined: • the origins, build-up and conduct of the Burmese government’s violent ethnic cleansing and expulsion of the Rohingya people; • the humanitarian, diplomatic and political response of Bangladesh, the UK and the international community (both states and international NGOs); and • the implications of these matters in the light of the commitments made by the international community at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 and elsewhere.3 We received and then published the Government’s response to this report on 28 March 2018. 3. The latter report - on monsoon preparedness - followed our visit, in March, to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and arose from the conditions we saw and the obvious necessity of taking urgent action before the annual heavy rains of June, July and August devastated the fragile sanctuary given to the Rohingya in that area. 4. We received the Government’s reply on 14 May 2018 and we are publishing it alongside this report. 5. This report, our third from this inquiry, provides: • an examination of DFID’s engagement with Burma and DFID’s wider development work in Bangladesh; and • the latest available information on the plight of the Rohingya people and the response of Bangladesh, the UK and others. Assistance during the inquiry 6. We are grateful to all those who contributed to our inquiry by providing written and/or oral evidence. We also thank our hosts and interlocutors in Bangladesh - not least DFID’s team there and the British High Commission - for the high quality and quantity of the site visits, meetings and discussions we were able to experience, despite challenging 2 3 Bangladesh and Burma: the Rohingya crisis, Second report, 2017–19, HC 504, 15 January 2018; and Bangladesh and Burma: the Rohingya Crisis - monsoon preparedness in Cox’s Bazar, Third report, 2017–19, HC 904, 20 March 2018. Op. cit., and see Bangladesh and Burma: the Rohingya crisis: Government response to the Committee, Fourth Special report, 2017–19, HC 919, 28 March 2018.