On April 3, 2025, Lord David Alton, a member of the U.K. House of Lords, raised questions about Myanmar junta airstrikes perpetrated against civilians following the March 28 earthquake that devastated communities in Myanmar. He raised these questions in response to the U.K. government’s statement about the earthquake.
“There has been a total of 11 reported attacks on ethnic minorities and civilian communities since the earthquake,” said Lord Alton. “Is this not piling tragedy upon tragedy? Although I support what the noble Baroness has said about her call for global sanctions, what about an arms embargo as well? Will we also take to the Security Council a call to ban the sale of aviation fuel to the military to prevent it being able to carry on with these appalling attacks on civilian populations?”
Earlier, on March 31, 2025, U.K. member of parliament and former Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell also shared a statement in the U.K. House of Commons in response to the U.K. government’s statement on the March 28, 2025 earthquake.
In his statement before parliament, he said:
For those of us who have been closely involved on issues to do with Burma/Myanmar for decades now, the severity of the disaster is shown by the fact that, unusually, the regime has called for international support. However, it is a mark of the barbarity of that illegal and corrupt junta that it conducted 11 airstrikes against its own people after the earthquake took place, which is undoubtedly a war crime. We have a long history of engagement with Burma. Some 6.3 million children are absolutely dependent on assistance. It will be very difficult to sustain the necessary level of support in future following Labour’s dreadful cuts to the international development programme. What discussions has the Minister had with her American counterparts to ensure that we drive the UK and US joint spending and get greater value for money?
Fortify Rights shared insights and potential solutions with both parliamentarians ahead of their respective interventions in parliament.