War in Sudan

Question

15:23:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent advances by the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan.

My Lords, the conflict in Sudan has created the worst humanitarian situation in the world. Both sides are responsible for inflicting terrible suffering on civilians. The Foreign Secretary discussed the latest developments with colleagues at the G20 last week, and in April he will host a Foreign Ministers conference to establish international consensus on the next steps. The Sudanese people deserve a peaceful Sudan led by a fully representative civilian Government.

My Lords, only weeks ago Amnesty International came into possession of a list of civilian activists, human rights defenders, medics and humanitarian workers whom the Sudanese Armed Forces planned to target for reprisals once it gained sufficient ascendency over Khartoum. The RSF has also repeatedly targeted civilians who it believes have co-operated with the SAF. As it stands, whether the SAF or the RSF win a skirmish, the civilian population always loses. What can we do, in partnership with allies, to put pressure on both sides to stop this grim pattern of reprisal attacks against the very groups that will be essential in building a lasting peace once conflict has abated?

My noble friend is absolutely right to point out that both sides have committed horrendous atrocities, despite the commitments they made in the Jeddah declaration to limit the impact on civilians. UK leadership has been critical of that through its continued scrutiny of Sudan. In October at the Human Rights Council, a UK-led Sudan Core Group resolution was adopted to renew the mandate of the fact-finding mission to ensure that such atrocities are exposed and that we can properly scrutinise the credible allegations of human rights violations. Last week at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, I met Mona Rishmawi, who leads the fact-finding mission, and I assured her of our continued support to do proper scrutiny and to hold the people who commit such crimes to account.

My Lords, what can the UK Government do to leverage their role as penholder at the Security Council for Sudan to help bring an end to the violence in that country?

As the noble Baroness knows, we have continued to raise the question at the Security Council. Last November, we tabled a resolution with Sierra Leone focusing on what the Secretary-General called for in relation to the protection of civilians. Sadly, that resolution was opposed by the Russians with their veto, but that did not stop us continuing to raise this question. The Foreign Secretary’s call for a conference event in April is intended to coalesce the international community to look at not only the humanitarian support that is so desperately needed but the longer-term solutions that will engage all civil society in a dialogue that will see a future for Sudan led by a civilian Government.

My Lords, as we approach the second anniversary of this terrible, brutal conflict, and with so many other matters occupying our attention, it is important that we do not lose our focus on it and that we continue to do all we can to end it. First, on sanctions, can the Minister say whether the Government intend to go further, perhaps following the lead of the recent spate of US sanctions? Secondly, beyond sanctions, are the Government working to identify any other hard-hitting ways to put pressure on the leadership of the RSF and the SAF and on the countries supporting their war machines?

As I think the noble Lord knows, I will not discuss future possible sanctions, but we have already made a number of sanctions against both sides and against individuals and companies involved. However, the future must be about how we build an international coalition for peace and humanitarian support. That is why the April conference is so important; it will bring together Foreign Ministers, including not just our international allies but all regional players, to ensure that they understand that there must be a better way forward. There is no military solution to this conflict, and the only people suffering are the civilians. The so-called representatives of the two warring factions have no interest in defending their civilian population, so we have to change that attitude and get the international community working together to ensure that we put people first.

My Lords, I declare significant interest in supporting the pro-democracy civilian groups in the dialogue within the conflict. Given the recent decisions by USAID, I welcome the fact that the Government will be protecting their support for the crisis. I welcome the ministerial conference that is coming up. One of the particular aspects which needs to be commended for the civilians is the provision of community kitchens and emergency rooms. In many areas—whether in RSF or SAF controlled areas—the only functioning services for providing food and medicine for civilians are through other civilians themselves. A lot of that has been funded through diaspora communities, and that has been drying up. Can the Minister update us as to what additional support there is—notwithstanding that there is no UN resolution for the protection of civilians—for the community kitchens and the emergency rooms, which are a lifeline for so many civilians, including women and children?

The noble Lord is absolutely right. One of the things we have been concerned about—which we have raised with both parties—is access to humanitarian aid. While one side says you can have that access, it does not cross the warring parties, so we cannot get to the people who desperately need it. He is absolutely right that we have to look at all means to ensure that we get help in. In terms of the April conference, we are engaging with civil society and the Taqaddum leadership—now called Somoud, where there has been a slight breakaway—and we are concerned to ensure that we have an inclusive dialogue. I met the chargé d’affaires for Sudan last week, and I made clear that we demand humanitarian access. We have committed additional funds, but we want proper access to all parts of Sudan so that nobody suffers.

My Lords, with 24 million people in Sudan, half the population in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine, how does the Minister respond to Annaliese Dodds’s statement that it would be “impossible” to deliver the proposed further cuts to aid without hitting programmes in Sudan, with women and children being principal victims? Can he also say where he believes the Sudanese Armed Forces are obtaining their weaponry, particularly in regard to the repositioning of Russian assets from Syria to Sudan via Libya?

The noble Lord had two questions; I will answer the latter first. We are totally aware of a number of parties supplying arms, including Russian elements, which end up supporting not only the SAF but the other party too—they seem to have a continued interest in ensuring that the war carries on. To come back on his other question, as the Prime Minister made very clear, we are in unique circumstances at the moment with a generational change, and it is absolutely vital that this country is able to defend itself fully and to defend all the values that we hold so dear. He is absolutely committed, and he made that very clear at the weekend. But he also made clear that we are determined to support—as the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, said—humanitarian aid in Sudan. As a consequence of the reduction, we will make a detailed analysis of how that spending will be allocated through the spending review process that has already started, so I am not going to predetermine that. But I believe that the Prime Minister is absolutely committed to ensuring that humanitarian aid gets into this worst humanitarian situation in Sudan.

My Lords, I think the whole House will wish to congratulate my noble friend the Minister on his personal commitment and outstanding leadership in this awful conflict. My question is simple: many resolutions have been passed and conferences are occurring; is there any evidence at all that the belligerents pay any attention to outside pressure?

I suppose the answer so far to my noble friend is that, sadly, no, they have not paid much attention. This comes back to the question that the noble Lord, Lord Alton, raised. People are funding and supplying arms to this conflict, and they have paid very little attention to the needs of the civilians, which is why the Foreign Secretary’s conference in April is so critical. We will be pulling all those regional players into that event to talk not just about how we get humanitarian aid in immediately but, in the longer term, how we establish that dialogue for peace and ensure that Sudan can be led by a civilian Government in the future.