• Burmese
Friday, June 13, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News

UK Parliament Speaker Calls for Blocks on Humanitarian Aid to be Lifted

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
October 11, 2016
in News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Rt Hon John Bercow addresses an audience of 500 in Rangoon on Friday. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy

Rt Hon John Bercow addresses an audience of 500 in Rangoon on Friday. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy

3.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — At a speech in Rangoon, Speaker of the British House of Commons Rt Hon John Bercow stressed that restrictions on humanitarian aid to conflict-affected communities in Kachin, northern Shan and Arakan state should be urgently lifted.

At the Park Royal Hotel on Friday evening, in an event co-hosted by the Yangon School of Political Science, the UK parliamentary speaker congratulated the people of Burma for the successful staging of the 2015 election and the democratic gains so far, and acknowledged the positive efforts of the previous government, but stressed that much still needed to be done.

Before an audience of 500, he outlined priorities for Burma, including strengthening Parliament and other democratic institutions, delivering equitable growth, ending “all discrimination based on race and religion,” and resolving Burma’s half-century of civil war through “political dialogue” and a settlement that includes a substantial devolution of power to the local level.

RelatedPosts

Shan Party Says It’s Ready to Take Part in Junta’s Election

Shan Party Says It’s Ready to Take Part in Junta’s Election

May 19, 2025
1.2k
Regime’s Moscow Show Masks Military Collapse in Myanmar; and More

Regime’s Moscow Show Masks Military Collapse in Myanmar; and More

May 17, 2025
1.6k
Disaster Diplomacy in Myanmar: A Convenient Narrative for the Int’l Community

Disaster Diplomacy in Myanmar: A Convenient Narrative for the Int’l Community

May 15, 2025
1k

He mentioned the UK’s “tragic decades of conflict in Northern Ireland,” resolved through political dialogue in a long-running peace process, and the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales, as positive examples for Burma in justly settling its own conflicts.

John Bercow also dwelt on his friendly relationship with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he has met both in London and in Naypyidaw over the past month, and described his experience visiting Karen refugee camps 12 years ago, where he heard stories of intense suffering from people caught up in Burma’s decades-long civil war.

He highlighted the “desperate situation” in active conflict areas, such as Kachin and northern Shan state, “where aid is not always reaching those who need it.”

John Bercow claimed that, alongside broader discussions of political reform, he had discussed rights abuses in these conflict zones with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw, including displacement, rape and arbitrary killing.

As many as 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin and northern Shan states since 2011, when a ceasefire broke down. Last week in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, several thousand people staged a protest demanding that the Burma Army halt its offensives in the state, which have included air and artillery strikes over the last month, alongside ground offences.

In recent months, humanitarian aid to displaced people’s camps in areas controlled by the KIA—including in remote areas along the China border—has faced blocks imposed by the Burma Army, according to sources close to United Nations agencies and a local civil society network based in Myitkyina.

UN agencies, including the World Food Program, raised these restrictions in meetings with the Kachin State government, where Burma Army representatives were present.

While permission to deliver aid to KIA-controlled areas was reportedly obtained from the Union government, the humanitarian agencies also had to seek the approval of the Kachin State government. Although this came through, the Burma Army’s Northern Command, based in Myitkyina, ultimately refused access.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: AidConflictKachinShanUK
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

KIA Seizes Myanmar Junta’s Last Remaining China Trade Route in Kachin State
War Against the Junta

KIA Seizes Myanmar Junta’s Last Remaining China Trade Route in Kachin State

by The Irrawaddy
June 14, 2024
17.1k

The military regime has also lost control of all border trade in neighboring northern Shan State.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime
Burma

Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime

by The Irrawaddy
May 13, 2024
13.3k

The old Kengtung Haw was a symbol of Shan identity until it was razed by the previous junta in 1991—a...

Read moreDetails
Yangon, Mandalay Deserted After Dark as Myanmar Junta Hunts for Conscripts
Burma

Yangon, Mandalay Deserted After Dark as Myanmar Junta Hunts for Conscripts

by Hein Htoo Zan
December 16, 2024
12.4k

Desperate regime ramps up forcible conscription as military defeat looms in Rakhine and Kachin states.

Read moreDetails
Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     
Guest Column

Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     

by Bertil Lintner
March 14, 2024
11.6k

After six decades of political wrangling, assassinations and opium trading, Shan forces remain bitterly divided, lacking a common vision for...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Ethnic Alliance Says Ceasefire Only Thing Keeping It From Taking More Towns
Ethnic Issues

Myanmar Ethnic Alliance Says Ceasefire Only Thing Keeping It From Taking More Towns

by The Irrawaddy
January 19, 2024
10k

The Brotherhood Alliance said that while it is obliged to honor the China-brokered deal, the Myanmar military violates it with...

Read moreDetails
Restoring Ancient City as Regime Crumbles; Building a Mutiny; and More
Junta Watch

Restoring Ancient City as Regime Crumbles; Building a Mutiny; and More

by The Irrawaddy
August 31, 2024
9.5k

conscription shock for older men, more journos punished with jail, and dictator’s reassurance rings hollow as resistance advances.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week

Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week

Burma military chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing visits the Defence Services Academy in Mandalay Division. / Myawaddy

Military Cadet Killed During Punishment by Senior

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

4 days ago
1.4k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
921

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • High-Level Ministerial Meeting Held to Speed Up Preparations for Myanmar Junta’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.