PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Sudan - 29 October 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Sudan.

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for bringing this urgent question before the House and ensuring that we discuss the appalling situation that we currently see in Sudan. Since conflict erupted between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April last year, Sudan has witnessed one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Humanitarian access continues to be deliberately blocked, and atrocities are being committed on a horrific scale.

The UK is at the forefront of responding to this crisis. Yesterday at the UN Security Council, the UK condemned the horrific escalation in violence in Al Jazirah state over recent days, with the Rapid Support Forces reportedly shooting indiscriminately at civilians and committing heinous acts of sexual violence. In September, as world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly, the UK convened an event with partners to draw international attention to conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. That followed my visit to South Sudan, where I spoke with some of those who have been impacted by this horrific violence. On 12 October, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh also visited the Chad-Sudan border to witness the impacts of the conflict in Sudan on women and girls and shine a light on the deteriorating situation.

On 9 October, as co-leader of the UN Human Rights Council’s core group on Sudan, the UK led efforts to extend the mandate of the independent fact-finding mission on Sudan. That mission is vital for documenting human rights abuses. Most recently, on 18 October, the UK led a joint statement with 10 other donors condemning the obstruction of aid and calling on the warring parties to comply with obligations under international humanitarian law. I also want to underline that this year, the UK has provided £113.5 million in aid to support those who are fleeing violence in Sudan and those who have fled to neighbouring Chad, South Sudan and Libya.

I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.

The war in Sudan represents the largest humanitarian crisis, hunger crisis and displacement crisis in the world, but it has been almost entirely neglected because of the crises in the middle east and Ukraine. In the 18 months since hostilities erupted, tens of thousands have been killed and more than 10 million people have been displaced. Horrifically, 13 million face death by starvation this winter. We are witnessing a continuation of what the Janjaweed, the murderous militia now restyled as the RSF, started in Darfur 20 years ago. This is a deliberate strategy to destroy a population based on their identity—a crime against humanity. More than 1 million people in El Fasher in north Darfur are at immediate risk.

As a member of the troika and through many other actions, Britain has been active, but as the penholder on Sudan at the United Nations Security Council and with our deep historical connections to Sudan, the UK has a special responsibility to accelerate international efforts to find a solution. Events are not moving far enough or fast enough. Where is the responsibility to protect—a policy endorsed by the whole United Nations—in this dreadful catastrophe? What steps is the Foreign Secretary taking to ensure the international community lives up to its obligation under the responsibility to protect framework?

We have seen how contentious issues on the global stage often spill over into domestic discourse, but the debate on Sudan has been muted: there are no protests in the streets and no mass public social media campaigns, and news coverage has been sporadic. Yesterday, the Government announced that they will be match-funding the Disasters Emergency Committee’s middle east appeal. Can the Minister confirm today that she will do everything she can to support the launch of a DEC appeal on Sudan as soon as possible? The British public are one of the most generous, and I am certain that with greater awareness, many will dig deep to help, both in humanitarian terms and in calling for urgent international action. As Christmas approaches, from the comfort of our homes, we are going to witness the hideous spectre of mass starvation in a world of plenty. “Urgent” is an understatement: we must do more and act now.

The new Government are absolutely determined to not neglect this crisis. The right hon. Member has just used the word “hideous”; that truly is the case. I have spoken with some of those who came back into South Sudan from Sudan, including children—children who had effectively had to fend for themselves for many days, wading through flooded water, and were barely alive by the time they got to South Sudan. I heard from them about the need to ensure that the UK Government do all they can to stop this horrific conflict, in which the two sides are ultimately out for themselves and most definitely not for the people of Sudan, who are being held to ransom.

The right hon. Member rightly drew attention to the situation in El Fasher. He will know that keeping the Adré border crossing open is absolutely imperative. We should no longer see any restrictions on aid: that border must be kept open, and additional impediments should not be placed there. He talked about our special responsibility, which is certainly one that the new UK Government feel very strongly. We are doing all we can within the UN, as well as bilaterally, to ensure that the UK is providing leadership on this horrendous situation. The Foreign Secretary has raised it repeatedly in a whole range of different contexts, as have I, including bilaterally and multilaterally.

The right hon. Member referred to the links that the people of the UK have with Sudan. Although he rightly said that there have not been protests on the streets, there are Brits up and down our country who are working extraordinarily hard to support those in Sudan, particularly through mutual aid groups. Those are some of the bravest people I have ever spoken with: I have spoken to them online since I came into post, and also spoke with some of them in Addis Ababa. They really are incredible, providing support for their communities at a time of such need.

Lastly, the right hon. Gentleman rightly mentioned the DEC appeal for the middle east that we have worked with broadcasters on and matched to £10 million. Of course, any DEC appeal is determined by broadcasters, but we will certainly do all we can to ensure that the support that the people of Sudan need is delivered in a far greater volume than currently.

My right hon. Friend says that she is doing all she can at the UN and bilaterally, but this horrendous situation is unfolding day by day, with 10 million people displaced, 20,000 people killed and 33,000 people injured—and it is getting worse. Can she say exactly what she is doing and how she is deploying the UN General Assembly, particularly as we are the penholder, to bring this horrendous situation to a close?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for asking for more specific details. She is right to emphasise the magnitude of the crisis: it is the world’s largest displacement crisis and now disturbingly, as we see, the world’s largest crisis of food insecurity.

Specifically on the UN General Assembly, which my hon. Friend asked about, we ensured that the UK convened an event with partners to draw attention to conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. I also worked with partners to hold a meeting on the Sudanese humanitarian situation, which we are rightly working on across our ministerial teams in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Some 25 million people urgently need assistance in Sudan and more than 10 million have been displaced from their homes. Will the Minister affirm that attaining a ceasefire in Sudan is a diplomatic priority for the UK?

The UK is the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council and assumes the presidency of the council from Friday. Last night, I met the former civilian Prime Minister of Sudan, Dr Abdalla Hamdok, who is president of the broad civilian front Tagadum. He is pushing for safe zones for civilians. Will the UK sponsor a new Security Council resolution to designate no-fly areas for aircraft and Iranian drones, and to uphold responsibilities under resolution 2417? Will the Government increase the capacity of their mission in Sudan as a practical means of support? Will they also further increase UK humanitarian assistance, including support for the UN appeal for Sudan, which has received only half its target funding?

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the incredibly important point. She is right to underline that we must see an end to the hostilities. As I mentioned in response to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), the two warring parties both appear to believe that they can win the war, so they are continuing hostilities. The impact of that on the civilian population is extreme: as we mentioned, there is the highest level of displacement and of food insecurity anywhere in the world. There must be an end to hostilities and the UK Government are doing all we can to advocate for that.

I am pleased to hear that the hon. Lady met the former leader of Sudan, Hamdok, from the transitional Government. I also met representatives of Tagadum, which is an important civil society organisation, when I was in Addis Ababa. Their voice must be heard, especially when it comes to the protection of refugees. We have seen so many attacks on refugees, internally displaced people in Sudan, and civilians. We will continue to argue against that.

The hon. Lady asked about our activity in Sudan. Richard Crowder is the newly appointed head of British Office Sudan and the UK special representative to Sudan. He is working incredibly hard on that, as are all the Ministers in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as I mentioned.

I am grateful to the Minister for updating us on her work. The violence continues in part because the warring parties have their sponsors in the region, including Iran and the Gulf. What efforts are the Government making to work with those regional sponsors to encourage de-escalation and secure a ceasefire?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning that; she has considerable experience in the area of humanitarian need. We were extremely concerned by the situation that was revealed, for example, in the panel of experts’ report in January 2024 about external engagement. I have said from the Dispatch Box before, and I will say again, that the only reason for another country to be engaged in Sudan is to help to provide humanitarian support. That is the only reason for external engagement, and we will continue to make that argument very strongly.

Both Front Benchers seem united in their passionate concern about this terrible conflict. Does the Minister agree that if this situation were happening in a conflict on the continent of Europe or in the middle east, it would be on our national news night after night? Why does she think our broadcasters give a second-order priority to such a terrible conflict?

The right hon. Gentleman asks an important question, and one that I have been struggling with too. Without dwelling on it, hearing from those who have been directly impacted by the crisis about the horrendous time that they have spent trying to escape the violence leads one to the conclusion that there must be more of a focus on the situation. The most appalling outcome would be if, some years hence, people were to look back and say, “Why did the international community not do more?” The Government are determined to use every lever—multilateral and bilateral—to try to force change and make sure that the people of Sudan are protected.

A UN investigation found today that rape is widespread in Sudan. The accounts are horrific, yet as we have heard, the conflict is the world’s forgotten war. How will the UK use its presidency of the UN Security Council in November to ensure that the crisis is no longer forgotten and that the world acts, including on sexual violence in conflict?

My hon. Friend raises an incredibly important issue; again, I know that she has experience in this area. The UK Government have repeatedly condemned atrocities and called out human rights violations, especially conflict-related sexual violence committed by parties to the conflict. We have called that out in the UN Human Rights Council and the Security Council. We are also supporting fact-finding missions. I was pleased to secure the support of even more countries for the important UN fact-finding mission, because the voices of women, girls and indeed boys who are being subjected to sexual violence must be heard and there cannot be impunity for that.

The brutality of violence in Sudan, and the disruption of agricultural systems and trade routes, have led to the extreme food insecurity that we have seen. Does the Minister share my admiration for the local emergency room organisations that are doing what they can to support local people? What will she do to ensure that international aid can get through to those actors on the ground? In the absence of international agencies or international forces, they are all that is there. What will she do to ensure that aid can continue to get across the border from Chad?

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for referring to the emergency response rooms; I had a meeting with a number of people involved with those mechanisms. We are talking about ordinary Sudanese people who have taken extremely brave steps to make sure that they are supporting their local communities with desperately needed humanitarian aid—food, water and other supplies that they need right now. As a Co-operative party MP, I believe that they have shown the best of mutual aid, and incredible courage at the same time. The UK is working with the UN on that, because we need to make sure that those individuals are supported in their incredibly important work. On the subject of aid from Chad, we will continue to push to make sure that the Adré border crossing is kept open and that there are no bureaucratic and administrative obstacles to aid getting through from there.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. We have had discussions with a number of bilateral partners both in the region and outside it. In fact, I discussed this with the USAID administrator last week when I was at the World Bank annuals, but we have of course had a number of discussions with regional actors as well—particularly countries in the Gulf, but beyond that as well. We know that many of them have relationships with individuals in Sudan, and we are really pushing for those to be used so that we see the aid delivery that is so desperately needed.

The UN Secretary-General warned yesterday that

“outside powers are fuelling the fire”,

and intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions of people in Sudan. The Minister has previously stated:

“The UK could not be clearer in our language.”—[Official Report, 3 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 166.]

She has said that those engaged in this conflict and enabling a proxy situation are exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. What precise actions are the UK Government taking to prevent this involvement and to stop arms reaching the conflict zones?

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being of the same mind on how we need to see an end to external engagement and to see the warring parties coming to the negotiating table. There have been a number of efforts to achieve that, but sadly, we have not seen both parties engaging to the extent they should have done. They must engage, and we must also see civil society engaging. We need to make sure that every single country is pushing towards that end, which is ultimately the only thing that will prevent the suffering of the Sudanese people.

What are the Government doing to ensure that the real picture of the impact on civilians in the region is well known, or better known, both domestically and in the international community?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this, because it really is important that we get as accurate a picture as possible of what is taking place, including of human rights violations. We are supporting the Centre for Information Resilience, a research body that is gathering open-source evidence about the ongoing fighting in Sudan. As I have mentioned, we have also pushed very hard to ensure there is support for the UN’s fact-finding mission. I was very pleased to see African nations backing that—a number of different countries backed it—and we need to make sure that the neutral information-gathering approach is really intensified so that we get an accurate picture.

I thank the Minister very much for her response. It is clear to the House that the Minister is doing her best to try to find solutions to the questions we are asking. On the escalating violence in Sudan’s Gezira state, recent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces have reportedly led to some 124 civilian deaths and widespread atrocities, including the targeting of ethnic and religious communities. In the light of the events that have led to the displacement of some 11 million people in Sudan, how are the Government working with international partners to safeguard the freedom of religious belief of those fleeing the religiously and ethnically motivated violence, and what immediate actions have been taken to ensure access to safe passage, humanitarian aid and protection for Sudanese civilians facing persecution, especially those from vulnerable religious communities?

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this incredibly important issue. One of the many tragic developments we see in Sudan at the moment is that, under the previous transitional Government to whom we referred a few moments ago, there was considerable progress on freedom of religion and belief. For example, apostasy was decriminalised and Christmas was made a national holiday for those who wish to celebrate it, so there was a lot of progress. We have not so far seen a significant increase in the specific targeting of or discrimination against any religious minorities for their beliefs, but we will keep that under very close review, and we are aware that the broader human rights situation has clearly been deteriorating very disturbingly.