(LONDON, June 2025)—In June 2025, several members of the U.K. parliament raised questions in parliament and commented on issues of concern identified by Fortify Rights as in need of attention. For example, on June 16, U.K. government minister Baroness Jennifer Chapman responded to a series of formal questions raised by Lord David Alton on the human rights situation in Myanmar. The questions requested information on: the U.K.’s assessment of the role of international activists and artists in raising awareness of human rights abuses in Myanmar and the support being provided to them; measures to halt the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military; efforts to protect freedom of expression amid the military’s crackdown on independent media; and steps to press for the release of political prisoners detained in Myanmar.
Fortify Rights assisted with drafting the formal questions and also met Lord Alton together with Dr. Sasa, Minister of International Cooperation for Myanmar’s National Unity Government.
In response to Lord Alton’s questions, Baroness Chapman said:
The Government continues to call for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution in April 2025 demanding their immediate release. Following the deadly airstrike on a Sagaing school in May, the UK reiterated its opposition to military airstrikes, highlighted its 19th round of targeted sanctions on aviation fuel in October 2024, and confirmed its commitment to measures that pressure the military without harming civilians. Finally, the Government emphasized support for international activists and artists raising awareness of human rights abuses in Myanmar, underscoring their importance in advocacy while reaffirming the UK’s broader condemnation of atrocities by the military regime.
Earlier, on June 5, 2025, U.K. Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West MP, replied to a private letter on the U.K. government’s humanitarian support in Myanmar sent by Blair McDougall MP on April 25, 2025 that Fortify Rights assisted in drafting. In her response, Catherine West MP emphasized that the U.K. takes a heavily localized approach to overcome humanitarian access restrictions and serve the most vulnerable, with almost 65 percent of the UK’s funding directed to local organizations.