Sudan

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Commons Chamber

12:35

[Sir Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield) (Con)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Minister if she will make a statement on Britain’s response to the worsening situation in Sudan.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Catherine West)]

Sudan is the worst humanitarian crisis on record. Over 30 million people need aid, and 12 million people have been displaced. Famine is spreading fast, and new reports confirm that the situation will deteriorate in the next three months. Cholera is also now widespread.

Lifesaving assistance continues to be blocked by the parties. Last month, five aid workers were killed in an appalling attack on a UN convoy that was delivering lifesaving aid to those fleeing violence in El Fasher. The deliberate targeting of aid workers clearly violates international law. As the United Nations Security Council penholder on Sudan, the UK led calls for accountability for such attacks, including through the UK-penned press statement on 12 June. Last week, the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor found reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity may well have been, and continue to be, committed in Darfur. The perpetrators must be held to account.

The UK continues to play a leading role in ensuring that aid gets to where it is most needed. In April, the Foreign Secretary brought together a broad coalition of partners to build consensus on strengthening humanitarian access. The co-chairs’ statement called on the parties to facilitate humanitarian access in accordance with their commitments in the Jeddah declaration. Over £810 million of funding for Sudan was announced, including £120 million of UK aid, which will support over 650,000 people this year.

In the absence of a ceasefire, the humanitarian situation will only worsen. We continue to call on the warring parties to place the interests of the Sudanese people over their pursuit of a military victory. The UK is working with our international partners to push the warring parties to return to the negotiating table and commit to a meaningful, sustainable ceasefire.

Any process that follows must be inclusive. We underline the importance of a return to civilian rule that is democratic and representative of the whole country. Moves by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to establish their own parallel Governments will only exacerbate de facto splits, and could lead to the permanent partition of Sudan. That is in no one’s interests.

We will continue to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to protect civilians, get aid to those who need it most, and support a Sudanese-led peace process with civilians at its heart.

[Sir Andrew Mitchell]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question today.

I make no apologies for raising the dire and desperate straits of the Sudanese people again in this House, not least because Britain leads on the Sudanese situation at the United Nations on behalf of all other nations. As the Minister said, the people of Sudan are in the throes of the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world and the situation is worsening, even if such things can hardly be imagined. Earlier this month, the United Nations and international organisations reported the mass displacement of tens of thousands of people following the combatant forces advancing across the Kordofan states. There have been months of increased mobilisation of fighters, including the recruitment of children from across Darfur. As fighting expands, the Kordofan states are the next deadly front.

In the recent and welcome ministerial conference hosted by the Foreign Secretary, much-needed money was raised, but the goal of a high-level contact group to drive political efforts towards achieving a ceasefire and protecting Sudanese civilians met with an impasse. We must accept that despite our efforts the past two years have been a story of faltering international endeavour where world events have cast Sudan into the shadows as its people have faced only deepening peril.

I ask the Minister three questions. First, what lessons have the Government learned from the siege of El Fasher and the overwhelming of the camp for displaced people at Zamzam to prepare for and protect civilians from the spread of violence across the Kordofan states? How are the Government supporting the local emergency response rooms? Secondly, can she confirm that the prevention of atrocities remains a key pillar of British policy and is unaffected by the recent cuts in the development budget? Thirdly, and finally, what are the Government doing to advance international efforts to protect civilians alongside their pursuit of a ceasefire? Are we to assume the Jeddah process is dead? What discussions has she had with her counterparts in the United States over recent weeks?

[Catherine West]

I thank the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for his questions and his long-standing interest not just in Africa in general, but particularly in this awful conflict in Sudan. Of course, Sudan is also a personal priority for the Foreign Secretary, which is why he brought together Foreign Ministers to try to find a resolution. The Prime Minister has reiterated that the UK will continue to play a key humanitarian role, evidenced by the £120 million of UK aid announced for Sudan this year.

On the right hon. Gentleman’s question in relation to the work post-Jeddah, we are working to sustain the momentum of the actions agreed at the conference. We continue to work with multilateral institutions, including the African Union, to ensure strong African leadership in response to the conflict. We have also joined the EU-convened consultative group on Sudan in June and we have initiated a friends of Sudan grouping in Geneva to advance our work on the protection of civilians, because the right hon. Gentleman is right to say that international law in this regard places a heavy emphasis on prevention of conflict and of atrocities. We continue to identify opportunities to use our role as penholder on Sudan in the UN Security Council and to galvanise UN Security Council action on the conflict in Sudan.

The right hon. Gentleman also specifically asked about the situation in the El Fasher camps and I want to reassure him that the UK is doing all it can, but the question is always about access. We have the money, we have the workers; it is access that we need in order to provide that lifesaving aid. That is the nub of the issue, which we are working on.

[Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

Not a single person in my Sudanese diaspora community in Sheffield has not been affected by the horrific violence in Sudan, but the most harrowing part for them is not the regular communication jams blocking parent from child and brother from sister, or the multiple displacements of millions of the most vulnerable people, or indeed the famine ripping through the population; the worst part is that while this, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, is breaking every boundary we know, world powers continue to look away.

The UK Government have a unique position as penholder for Sudan, and at the UN Security Council I appreciate that we called for a ceasefire through a resolution, but the resolution set no deadline for concluding the ceasefire and authorised no enforcement mission. So, Minister, what are we doing to enforce accountability for the shameful complicity of states backing the warring sides, and when will we push for an agreement to a ceasefire so the people of Sudan can be free from this horror?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a loud voice here on behalf her Sudanese diaspora. The most important things the UK can do to build on the momentum of the important London Sudan conference—bearing in mind that we were the first to have such a conference—are to continue to base our work on the statement from its co-chairs; to continue, as she says, to use our role at the United Nations; and to work through the new friends of Sudan grouping to keep pushing at the highest level, using our position on the UN Security Council to galvanise its action and continue the important supply of aid into the region.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for pursuing this matter.

The situation in Sudan is dire. We are deeply concerned by the International Criminal Court’s findings last week that there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity may be being committed in Darfur. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with the UN warning on 30 June of drastic cuts to life-saving food aid for Sudanese refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries. Sudan has been identified as the global hunger hotspot of highest concern, and without immediate humanitarian assistance, the risk is terrible. With recent attacks on UN aid convoys, can the Minister provide her latest assessment of the situation and the extent of aid blocking? How is she ensuring that UK aid—including the £120 million announced at the April Sudan conference—will reach those who need it, and that aid workers are protected?

More broadly, what new measures are the Government taking to compel the warring parties into a ceasefire, to allow more aid in and to facilitate deconfliction for its delivery in the meantime? How has the Minister supported Sudanese civilian and political forces to engage in constructive dialogue processes such as the Cairo conference, and what is her assessment of the effectiveness of these processes? Despite the spending review, we are yet to understand what the 0.3% figure means for bilateral aid, so will she confirm the bilateral spend for Sudan this year?

Sudan matters. It is not in the UK’s national interests for the crossing of red lines in this conflict to persist, to have the displacement of people on this scale, nor to see the further destabilisation of this region of Africa.

[Catherine West]

The right hon. Lady asked about the last week’s ICC finding. We acknowledge the ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s critical findings that there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity may have well been committed, and are continuing to be committed, in Darfur. This is an important milestone in the ICC’s investigation into crimes committed in Darfur, and the UK remains steadfast in its commitment to ensure that international humanitarian law is respected and breaches are called out and investigated. The UK remains committed to securing accountability for those responsible for atrocity crimes. This includes reporting the fact-finding mission’s mandate and the ICC’s ongoing investigation.

The right hon. Lady mentioned the attack on El Fasher and the targeting of aid workers. That is an absolute disgrace and a clear violation of international law, and we condemn it. She asked what more we have been doing recently. We attended the important consultative group on Sudan in Brussels on 26 June, and contributed to discussions with the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy on Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, on his plans to convene proximity talks with the warring parties, including on protection issues.

Finally, the right hon. Lady raised the important question of the spending review. As I am sure she is aware, we have a lot of lessons to learn from last time the aid budget was reduced, because the National Audit Office criticised the way those reductions were made in-year, without consultation, and questioned whether that was value for money. Instead, the Government will take a long-term look at this, and have a glide principle over the three remaining years of this Parliament.

[Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)]

That this urgent question could have been relevant at any time in the past 20 years is a damning indictment of the failure of the international community. This morning, my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) and I hosted Sudanese community voices alongside Médecins Sans Frontières, the British Medical Association and others, and we heard harrowing stories about what is happening on the ground. Medical centres and hospitals are becoming battlegrounds and, as ever, women and children are bearing the brunt of the devastation. The United Nations has called what is going on the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis”. There are credible allegations of genocide, backed by both the US and the UN, and there are well-documented cases of war crime. This is a war on civilians.

The UK, in its role as the UN penholder, must lead by example and convene international actors and leaders to urgent, concrete action. Will the Minister set out what urgent action she plans to take in the next week, particularly given that Parliament will not be sitting again until September, by which time many more lives will have been devastatingly lost?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend her for her important work in pulling together groups—in particular aid workers whose focus is on medical relief—and for her role on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I am sure she shares with me the worry about the news of a cholera outbreak in the region. I thank her for her important work in that regard. She also impresses on the House the importance of the UK’s support to women and girls.

The Foreign Secretary visited the Sudan-Chad border in January to raise awareness of Sudan, speaking directly to refugees, including survivors who shared harrowing stories of sexual violence and torture, and in March, Lord Collins, the Africa Minister, chaired a UN Security Council briefing on committing to the prevention of violence against women and girls in Sudan, but my hon. Friend is quite right to say that this week, as the House comes towards its rising, we must do even more. I will undertake to share this particular dialogue in the House with the Minister for Africa, so he can redouble his efforts in the month of August to ensure that the UK is well represented in international discussions.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

The ongoing war in Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe and the biggest since aid began. I thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question, but I regret that in the past seven months there has been only one statement on Sudan from the Government.

Local and community-led emergency response rooms are central to the on-the-ground response. Will the Minister outline how the UK is increasing support to those ERRs? Since the London conference, what bilateral conversations have the Government had with regional actors and the US about Sudan? War crimes are being committed on an almost daily basis. The two principal warring parties oppose a democratic Sudan, so what are the Government doing to support Sudanese civilian groups and civil society fighting for the democratic future?

Since 2023, The New York Times has repeatedly reported that the United Arab Emirates is funnelling weapons to the Rapid Support Forces, and the UN’s expert panel on Sudan deemed those allegations credible. What are the Government doing to address the proliferation of outside weapons in Sudan, and to uphold and expand the arms embargo? How are they clamping down on the illicit international trade in Sudanese gold, which is financing this war? Finally, what assessment have the Government made of the American judgment that chemical weapons are being used in Sudan?

[Catherine West]

The hon. Lady quite rightly pushes us to say more in this House. There have been lots of questions from Members when the Foreign Secretary has been answering broader questions, such as on G7 or NATO meetings, so Members across the House have asked questions under the umbrella of international affairs and the Foreign Secretary has replied to them, but we can always do more.

As the hon. Lady is aware, we need to keep up the momentum from the London Sudan conference. She asks who we are working with. We are of course working with the African Union. This is, first and foremost, a question of promoting leadership of African countries to deal with issues in Africa. The Foreign Secretary has redoubled his efforts as a well-respected Foreign Secretary within the African Union dialogues, and recently joined the EU-convened consultative group on Sudan in June, which I know the hon. Lady will appreciate and think is a worthwhile forum for us to be in. As mentioned, the friends of Sudan group in Geneva will also advance the work to protect civilians.

The hon. Lady mentions the UAE. Our message to any partners who may have an element of involvement in the conflict is clear: we need to press for a peaceful solution. All those supporting behind the scenes need to come together in the spirit of the London Sudan conference and talk about a peaceful solution for all.

On the hon. Lady’s last question, which was about gold in Sudan, I shall have to write to her.

[Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)]

In response to an urgent question in April, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer) confirmed that the London Sudan conference included a commitment from the UK Government to provide a further £120 million of aid for 2025-26 to support 650,000 people, which the Minister referenced earlier. With that in mind, can the Minister today confirm to the House what progress has been made in the intervening few months to ensure that the additional aid reaches the most vulnerable people in Sudan fleeing conflict, sexual violence and famine?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend raises the most important point. It is not just about money; it is about access, our diplomatic heft and knocking heads together so we can get that aid through to the people most in need. He mentions the £120 million for this financial year. A portion of that uplift provides support to local responders, both through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which supports the emergency response rooms, and the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium of Sudan, which provides direct cash assistance to mutual aid groups on the ground. The reason for that is that there is often a de-banking situation in conflict zones—formal banking collapses. That is why it is so important that the UK is able to assist the smaller groups on the ground to get that vital aid in.

[Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)]

Such an enormous civilian price is being paid in Sudan, but one of the greatest horrors is the use of rape and sexual violence against women and children as a weapon of war—and it is being used systematically as a weapon of war. I appreciate that the Minister has limited options, but I urge her to look at every single way that we can be more robust and stronger, and really lead the charge to ensure that vital aid—not only to combat hunger but to help people who have been raped and who have suffered so much—is delivered as quickly as possible. Let us please lead the way.

[Catherine West]

I thank the right hon. Member for his question. The UK funds support for the protection, prevention and care services responding to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, and they provide emergency support to survivors. Longer-term UK programmes also work to tackle female genital mutilation, and to empower women and girls.

[Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)]

I echo the words of my hon. Friends the Members for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) about the terrible and desperate suffering of women and children. I thank the Minister for her update, in which she highlighted the outcome of the London Sudan conference and the urgent need for access for aid. When I speak to my constituents from the Sudanese diaspora community, they talk about their desperate sadness in the conversations they have with their friends and family who are still in the region. Will the Minister update the House on the consular arrangements for the friends and family of my constituents?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner on behalf of her constituents in Westminster and the City. I encourage her and her staff to use the MP hotline, because that is the best way of getting through in order to get consular advice and to reassure our communities in the diaspora of Sudan.

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for securing this urgent question on the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. I welcome the leadership steps that the UK Government are taking, but will the Minister tell the House what conversations are being had with both the African Union and the United Nations about the possibility of surging peacekeepers into Sudan to protect civilians?

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Lady for her leadership role in the previous Parliament as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Sudan and South Sudan and as International Development Minister.

There are a number of partners; she has mentioned some of them. The participants at the London Sudan conference included Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, South Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, and of course the like-mindeds: Norway, Canada, the USA and Switzerland. It was a perfect moment and the hon. Lady asks how we can continue that. We will redouble our efforts to work with the multilaterals such as the UN and the League of Arab States. There is quite a lot on their agenda at the moment, but it is very important that Sudan is not brought down the agenda just because it is in Africa. That is a fear, which is why it is so good to see the reporting in the Financial Times, The Guardian, and many of our other mainstream newspapers, to keep it in the spotlight. We will ensure that we work bilaterally with the countries we work with in normal times, and on a multilateral level to maintain our leadership role.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

The humanitarian situation in Sudan is horrific, with the growing perpetration of atrocity crimes against civilians. This is part of a growing pattern of mass atrocity crimes being perpetrated across the world, but the UK Government’s strategy on prevention of and response to mass atrocity crimes has not been updated since 2019. Does the Minister agree that it is time for a fresh approach to this vital issue?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend knows of what she speaks, with her role before she came to this place. I shall take that as an action from today’s dialogue.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will the Minister explain to the House what, in practical terms, the Security Council could do, even if all its members were neutral on the question of backing one side over the other? If two sides are determined to fight one another and neither is dependent on outside military assistance to pursue the conflict, is there anything practical that the Security Council could do, even if it was united and in agreement on the need for an intervention?

[Catherine West]

The UN Security Council is not just about military intervention, in terms of the security; as the right hon. Gentleman is aware, it is also about the impact of the diplomatic solutions. As the penholder, the UK has the most important role to try to bring everybody together around the table, which is why we had the London Sudan conference. There were some who threw their hands up and said, “We haven’t achieved anything,” but I think the important thing was that we laid down a marker, and that we are now following up with other partners and being seen as leaders in the area. It is by using the UN Security Council leadership role that we will eventually get to a solution. However, the right hon. Gentleman is quite right to say that there are a lot of fingers in the pie.

[Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingley) (Lab/Co-op)]

What is happening in Sudan—in Darfur, in particular—is one of the world’s deepest and longest-running humanitarian crises. Unfortunately, we are seeing rising tensions and military action in neighbouring South Sudan, particularly in the Upper Nile region. The Ugandan army has recently entered South Sudan, and there is a real risk of regional conflict and civil war, which would create a much deeper humanitarian crisis across the whole region. What is the UK doing to de-escalate that potential conflict, such as talking to Uganda and South Sudan?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend is quite right to say that the longer the war lasts, the greater its ripple effect. We should give credit to countries like Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, alongside others nearby, for managing this crisis and for taking so many people in. There has also been aid from countries like the UK, but the impact within the region is devastating. I will certainly take back to the Minister for Africa my hon. Friend’s point about the impact on South Sudan and reply in writing with what we are going to do this month—not waiting until September, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) said.

[Brian Mathew (Melksham and Devizes) (LD)]

As a former aid worker and resident of Darfur, I feel deeply for the people of Sudan. Will the Minister say whether there are plans to increase the amount of spend for the emergency response rooms? They are clearly doing very valuable work at the moment.

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for all the work he did before coming to Parliament and his important support for so many countries; I have been in debates with him on Myanmar and others. It is important that we lay on the record that £120 million is a lot of money, and that we have to follow that money. As I explained before, de-banking sometimes occurs in certain contexts, which is why we need to have those relationships on the ground with the sorts of aid organisations that my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow spoke about, covering the situation as it is today and how to maintain those relationships. My personal view is that it is not always just about the impact of the budget; sometimes it is about the diplomatic work that goes on around the funding so that we can maximise that money.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The brutal violence being perpetrated against Sudanese civilians is only fuelled by external actors from the UAE, Egypt, Russia and beyond. Will the Minister ensure diplomatic interventions with each of those nations and report back to the House on the outcome of those dialogues? Will she also ensure that the UK leads on banning the use of mercenaries in areas of conflict? We have not signed a convention as the UK Government, and it is time that we led a new convention on the use of mercenaries.

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend for her work as the chair of the APPG for Sudan and South Sudan. We have now heard from both the former chair, the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), and the current chair. I know that my hon. Friend has a Sudanese diaspora in her locality, too.

May I just emphasise that the UK is not protecting any country with an interest in this conflict? We have been very clear that we expect all countries to comply with existing UN sanctions regimes and the arms embargo, and we continue to work closely with partners at the UN Security Council to enforce them. We need to move on to the political resolution of the conflict. I also ask for my hon. Friend’s patience; I will fold the second part of her question into the challenge I had from my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) on updating some of our policies and procedures that have not been updated since 2019.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for her answers to all the questions and her strong words on our commitment. I believe those words will encourage us all, and hopefully thereby encourage our constituents. Sudan ranks fifth on the Open Doors world watch list for Christian persecution, with more than 100 churches and Christian buildings forcibly seized in the conflict, with the latest church destroyed just last week. Christians are afraid to practise their faith, and the recent murder of 300 people in North Kordofan has underlined the valid reason that they live in fear. How can the Government assist? More importantly, will the Government intervene and help the people of this region, who are being exterminated just because they are Christians?

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his relentless work in this House on freedom of religion or belief. Of course, the region used to be so much more diverse, but the space for religious freedom has really narrowed. He is quite right to challenge that. With his permission, I will share his thoughts with our freedom of religion or belief champion, my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), so that we can work together on this issue and shine a spotlight on the lack of freedom for Christian communities in particular, but also for other minority communities in the Darfur region.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I am sure all hon. Members will want to praise British diplomats for all they are doing on this difficult issue. The potential catastrophic loss of ever more civilian life—not merely in the armed conflict, but in the resulting humanitarian catastrophe—means that the conscience of the world must lead to action, first and foremost through diplomacy. Have the Government considered working with allies to ensure that all options remain on the table, given concepts like the responsibility to protect? Given that Sudan has previously seen a genocide in Darfur, does the Minister agree that we must ensure that the international community does not once again have to say, “If only we had acted more robustly,” or, “Never again”?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend for his extensive work in civil society on these sorts of issues. The current position is for us to engage extensively through diplomatic means to encourage all parties to come to the table. We are very aware of the complexity of this particular conflict and the fact that it is not just two sides within the region, but a lot of other players. We are uniquely positioned with our role on the United Nations Security Council and with our other partners; for instance, we do a lot with the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. We are using our diplomatic efforts double time at the moment, but I do hear what my hon. Friend says.

[Ben Lake (Ceredigion Preseli) (PC)]

Given that certain UN initiatives and efforts to address this humanitarian catastrophe have encountered a degree of reluctance, if not opposition, from states such as Russia, I was pleased to hear the Minister say that the Government are working closely with regional partners. Will she elaborate on the work that is being done to support countries such as Egypt and multilateral organisations like the African Union to address this humanitarian crisis and, if not to broker a ceasefire, to ensure the unblocking of humanitarian aid?

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Member for his long-standing interest in development. I know that he will be pleased to hear that the participants with whom we worked at the London conference continue to be our partners in this endeavour. They include Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, South Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. Within my own brief as the Indo-Pacific Minister, I am able to talk about terrible conflicts such as those in Sudan and Myanmar with like-minded people, including with those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which also cares deeply about their brothers in Sudan and Myanmar. We must redouble our efforts to have on our agenda in future diplomatic interventions those terrible ongoing conflicts that are not enjoying the spotlight of public attention.

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her responses so far. She will be aware of the indiscriminate aerial bombardments in the conflict and the failure to distinguish between military and civilian targets. Are the Government considering further targeted sanctions on those leaders responsible for, or accused of, atrocities and war crimes in the area?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the parties involved in the conflict. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the UK has also sanctioned two generals of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces for their crimes against civilians in November 2024. He is also right to emphasise the use of drones in this particular conflict and how difficult it is for civilians to know how to shield themselves against them. This new method of war is very much at the top of our agenda when we speak with like-minded people.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

May I take this opportunity to thank the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for keeping the plight of the Sudanese at the forefront of our thoughts. We often hear the adage, “out of sight, out of mind”, and, unfortunately, the conflict in Sudan does not engage the mainstream media in the way that it should. We know about the recent harrowing events in North Kordofan, where 300 civilians, including children and pregnant women, were massacred. We know that, historically, there have been international peacekeeping troops on the ground. Will the Minister explore that opportunity with the relevant nations? Does she believe that that is something that can be considered?

[Catherine West]

Just last month, we joined the UN-EU consultative group on Sudan for the first time, alongside our partners from the US, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the League of Arab States. That was at the top of the agenda. Our role at the moment is very much focused on being the penholder at the UN, but all channels are open and we are listening to all views. The important thing is that we try to get round the table again and maintain the momentum that we had for that brief moment at the London conference.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

With 150,000 men, women and children dead, 13 million people displaced, attacks on humanitarian workers, and reports of ethnic cleansing and genocide, Sudan is undoubtedly the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, yet almost nobody knows about it. We have had no marches on the streets, comparatively little media attention, and very few statements and urgent questions in the House. Will the Minister set out what more the Government can do to raise awareness of the desperate need to address this conflict?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend for his spotlight on this issue. The UK condemns the growing body of evidence of serious atrocities being committed against civilians in Sudan: the escalation of violence; the killing of civilians; the sexual assault of women; and the restriction of humanitarian access. That is why the Foreign Secretary visited the Sudan-Chad border to raise awareness of the conflict in Sudan and its impact on neighbouring countries. He spoke directly to Sudanese refugees, including to survivors, who shared harrowing stories of sexual violence and torture. The Minister for Africa, for whom this is probably the highest priority area, hosted an event with his Dutch and Swiss counterparts to discuss the alarming rates of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan and the inadequacy of current responses, and we will redouble our efforts following this urgent question to ensure that we follow that up.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

The unfolding scenario in Sudan almost defies description. The Minister has quite rightly spoken about the importance of accessibility. Does she agree that, for accessibility to work in terms of aid, resources and assistance, there needs to be a comprehensive international approach in order even to offer the prospect of hope and delivery within the next few months?

[Catherine West]

The hon. Member is absolutely right to talk about the importance not just of our bilateral meetings, but of working at that multilateral level. At the same time, we need to provide support in that important area of gathering facts as we go along, because the fog of war can prevent that. Let me give one example. The UK provided £989,000 to the Sudan Witness project started by the Centre of Information Resilience, which investigates attacks against civilians and works with Sudanese civil society organisations as well as the United Nations fact-finding mission to support evidence gathering and accountability, so that, one day, justice will be served.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her answers today, and the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for bringing this urgent question to the House. The events in Sudan are undoubtedly an ongoing stain on the conscience of the global community. I am deeply concerned about increasing the accountability of those who are complicit or guilty of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Following the question of my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce), can the Minister assure me and my constituents that she will leave no stone unturned in making sure that people face justice for the things that they have either enabled or taken part in?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend is right to say that the reports coming out of Darfur are horrifying. Some of the violence has shown the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing and may amount to crimes against humanity. The Foreign Secretary heard this at first hand from survivors when he was in Adre in January. Irrespective of any determinations in the International Criminal Court, we know that we will strongly and always support its active investigation into the situation in Darfur, including allegations of crimes committed since April 2023, and that is why the UK has provided technical support in this regard.