Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis 7 logistics. We would like to record particular appreciation for the Rohingya representatives we met in Cox’s Bazar for whom discussion of their recent experiences of violence, loss and devastating deprivation, was very plainly no easy matter.4 Refusal of visas to visit Burma 7. We also express appreciation for the efforts of DFID Burma, the UK Ambassador there, FCO Ministers and staff in London, and Mr Speaker, for their efforts and interventions in trying to persuade the Burmese government to authorise visas for members and staff of the Committee to visit Burma to see DFID’s work at first hand. Unfortunately, these efforts were in vain.5 8. We were disappointed not to be allowed to visit Burma to see any UK aid projects in that country funded by the UK’s allocation of £100 million development assistance per year. Visas were refused at the last minute—and reportedly by decision taken at the highest level. The reasons given varied but were essentially spurious.6 We can only assume that the Burmese government was reacting to the criticism contained in our first report on the Rohingya crisis and voiced by many other members of both Houses during questions and debates on the matter. 9. As Mr Speaker, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, highlighted during the Urgent Question on the matter on 28 February: “In democracies, parliamentarians do criticise governments. That is a lesson that the Burmese Government will have to learn.”7 The effect was to curtail our scrutiny of DFID’s work and sharpen our focus on whether UK aid for Burma was being channelled and focused in an appropriate way given the new circumstances, postAugust 2017. 10. We recommend that DFID seek to agree with the authorities of any country in receipt of multiple millions of pounds worth of UK aid—whether any of that aid is channelled via government agencies or not—that there is a presumption of access to scrutinise the relevant projects on the ground for UK personnel engaged in audit or accountability, including the relevant parliamentary select committee. Indeed, the principle of diplomatic reciprocity indicates that the UK parliamentarians should have access to any country with whom the UK has diplomatic relations. 4 5 6 7 See the Chair’s account: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/as-desperate-rohingya-refugees-await-the-rainswhere-is-the-world-to-help-tlzwxgz3g See HC Deb, 28 February 2018: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018–02–28/debates/38C514F3–0169– 4817–810D-1035CCA4F398/InternationalDevelopmentCommitteeBurmaVisas. We were told that: there was a public holiday in Burma (which had been factored in to our plans from the start); access to Rakhine state was restricted for security reasons (we had alternative destinations); and there was unhappiness that individual members of the Committee had signed a letter calling for the Burmese army to be held to account for its conduct in Rakhine (the Burmese have arrested ten of its soldiers for such conduct— unlikely to be the full story but an admission of problems nonetheless). Hansard https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018–02–28/debates/38C514F3–0169–4817–810D1035CCA4F398/InternationalDevelopmentCommitteeBurmaVisas