Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to use its position on the UN Security Council to help facilitate diplomatic negotiations on protecting civilians in Burundi; and if the Government will negotiate for a UN police peacekeeping mission with a Chapter VII mandate.

James Duddridge

The UK has been at the forefront of UN Security Council efforts to seek an end to violence in Burundi in order to protect civilians. Under the UK’s Presidency, the Security Council passed Resolution 2248 in November 2015, which among other things authorised the Secretary General to send a mission to Burundi to help create conditions for dialogue. Dialogue is crucial to securing a peaceful and stable outcome to the current crisis. During my visit to Burundi in December 2015 I used meetings with Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe, and Major General Prime Niyongabo, Army Chief of Staff, to press the Government of Burundi to engage in inclusive dialogue without preconditions. At the African Union (AU) Summit in January, I also discussed the situation in Burundi with AU Chairperson Madame Zuma, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Chergui and Burundian Foreign Minister Nyamitwe. The UK also made these points as part of a Security Council visit to Burundi in January this year. We have urged the Burundian government to accept an international peacekeeping deployment, which would render a Chapter VII mission unnecessary.