Conflict in Sudan: El Fasher

Chi Onwurah Excerpts
Thursday 16th May 2024

(4 weeks, 1 day ago)

Commons Chamber
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Anne-Marie Trevelyan Portrait Anne-Marie Trevelyan
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The challenge that my hon. Friend has raised is such an important and difficult one. We continue to work closely with a wide range of non-governmental organisations and UN partners on conflict and atrocity prevention, and on these really important questions around losses of religious freedom. We are systematically prioritising atrocity monitoring and reporting, and are continuing to increase our capacity when it comes to human rights and atrocity prevention investment. We want to complete that assessment in-country in order to inform how we can continue to expand the strategy and be very clear that all those who are committing these terrible crimes will be held to account.

Chi Onwurah Portrait Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
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The scale of the humanitarian situation in El Fasher is horrific and demands urgent action. At the same time, Sudan is at the centre of a series of interlocking and interdependent humanitarian crises that blight the whole horn of Africa. Last week, the all-party parliamentary group for Africa, which I chair, convened a high-level summit to look at the issues of resilience and conflict in the horn of Africa, and highlighted particular issues around engagement with grassroots groups and increasing ethnic polarisation. The Minister is here on behalf of the Deputy Foreign Secretary, and she is a friend of the APPG; on his behalf, can she commit that he will meet with the APPG to discuss the incredibly important actions that the British Government can take?