Republic of the Union of Myanmar  Much work still needs to be done. Myanmar's constitution is military drafted and many powers continue to be retained by the military. We extend to Aung San Suu Kyi and her government our best wishes, as she continues to bring full democracy to Myanmar.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say that the good news, the optimistic news, is that there is now a democratic system in Myanmar, which in principle gives all communities an opportunity to voice their concerns through Parliament, through NGOs, and through civic society. One of the most remarkable things in Myanmar in the last five years, frankly, has been the creation of a free press, probably the freest press anywhere in Southeast Asia, as well as the ability of NGOs and civic groups to organize.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That situation developed in advance of the November election, apparently in response to an upsurge of what I would call “Buddhist nationalism”, which made it politically unpalatable for the previous government of Myanmar to take courageous decisions on that issue. Obviously, when you have up to 1.3 million residents of your country who are effectively disenfranchised, you have, as you mentioned, great difficulty accessing basic human services and moving about the country.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development entitled “Sentenced to a Slow Demise: The Plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Minority”, and the second report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development entitled “Crimes against Religious, Ethnic and Other Groups in Syria and Iraq”.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say that in terms of the sequencing and prioritization, focusing on general approaches, that is, broad-based economic development, broad-based growth, broad-based inclusive development, in a country like Burma/Myanmar, will take it on a path where there's very little that we can do without getting into very contentious waters very quickly. If you take my premise of whether we really have the partners to be able to engage with that problem and that situation in a way that we can do something about it in a targeted and isolated manner, you're better off investing.

Agriculture committee  Meanwhile, we see honey being imported into Canada and the U.S., our biggest customer, from places such as India, Myanmar, Thailand, Spain, and Vietnam, which are all suspect countries for supplying transshipped or adulterated honey from China. The need to monitor bee health is higher than it has ever been.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak out about the current human rights situation of the Rohingya in Myanmar. So far the honourable speakers before me covered what is going on in today's Burma. As a researcher myself, I'd say I'm an ancient researcher. I have been researching on the Rohingya people from 1978 and my thesis, done from Canada, was on what was going on in those times.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's the latter point that critics have pointed to and talked about in terms of aid being linked to Canadian policy priorities. I have some examples. Colombia and Peru were added in 2009. Mongolia, Myanmar, and the Congo were added in 2014. The argument is that the decision to look at those states and to make them part of our policy was done entirely as a result of a decision of the government in power at the time to align aid with particular strategic priorities and economic priorities.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The problem also is that they have this principle of not interfering in each other's internal affairs so expecting at the end to be a strong voice to push the Myanmar government to address the root causes is probably not going to happen. How to spend the $44 million is perhaps a bit beyond my expertise especially when you seek to promote a democratic institution.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Our Minister of Foreign Affairs recently announced that $44 million will be provided to strengthen democratic institutions in Myanmar. We had a witness at this committee not that long ago, John Sifton, who mentioned the importance of co-operation between countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Bangladesh. Through programs like this $44 million, what can be done to promote the political inclusion of the Rohingyan people, in your opinion?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As you know, I have also been participating together with UNHCR and I tried to get countries in the region to coordinate a regional response which would include of course addressing the protection needs of the Rohingya when they flee the country, but also to address together the issue of root causes in Myanmar which of course is the reason these people are fleeing in the first place. The only progress I've seen so far is the last Bali process meeting when apparently the people in affected countries agreed that if there was another crisis, they would take over coordinating a response.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As you know, anti-Muslim tragedies have always been rather widespread in Myanmar, not just now. I have been already more than 20 years here in Thailand and in the past have had a lot of contact also with pro-democracy activists. We were generally [Inaudible—Editor] tragedies that come out and they had been [Inaudible—Editor] in the past through anti-Muslim violence.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's for sure. That would be one of my main concerns at the moment, because during my recent trip to Myanmar, I understand that the international community seems to have, and the donor community, as well, some fatigue about the situation, and of course I'm looking for a way to try to get things moving.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I go regularly to keep in contact with the international humanitarian agencies, the Rohingya activists based in Yangon, and the politicians, as well as of course the diplomatic community. One of the reasons I did not go—actually I was in Myanmar in March—is that there is now restrictions on foreigners visiting the camps. Permission is now required, and since I am not directly associated with any organization in the country, I cannot apply with a tourist visa for permission to visit the camps.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Lewa has provided consultancy services to international human rights organizations, UN agencies, and donor governments on Rohingya refugee concerns, and also provided expert testimony in the United Kingdom asylum and immigration tribunal as part of the country guidance case on Myanmar. Ms. Lewa is a prolific advocate of the Rohingya, and has appeared on CBC Radio, National Public Radio, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, and others. Ms. Lewa, I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us today from Bangkok.