I’ve just returned from a three day trip the Balikhali refugee camps in Bangladesh with the Rafay Mussarat Foundation. We delivered over 300k food parcels in two days and discussed with local aid agencies the importance of securing a peaceful and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar.

I saw first-hand the impact financial aid for refugee camps is having in Bangladesh and this should rightly be applauded, but above all we need to sort this political problem out so the Rohingya people don’t become homeless in their own country, and end up living as refugees. We cannot afford to allow the Rohingya to continue to suffer in these conditions, a peaceful and sustainable political solution is needed immediately.

As the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting got underway this month, I raised the issue of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Parliament and called on the Government to use the opportunity to take a lead on resolving the crisis.