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Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in Sudan.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I am grateful for the opportunity to open this debate, although I do so with a heavy heart because we meet at a moment of almost unimaginable suffering for the Sudanese people. The war in Sudan has created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world today, and the situation continues to deteriorate at a frightening pace. Investigators from the United Nations have found that war crimes have been committed by both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. Both sides continue to target civilians.
The SAF have used barrel bombs to target civilians and, in Kordofan, the RSF have eradicated entire villages. Hospitals and medical sites—places that should symbolise safety and healing—are becoming battlegrounds. This is a war on civilians. It shows no respect for international humanitarian law. This debate is about recognising that the scale of suffering in Sudan demands the full attention of the international community, and the targeted assistance that must follow.
Two years since the crisis began, nearly 13 million people—one in every three Sudanese—have been displaced from their homes.
Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. The United Nations reports that Sudan now faces the world’s largest displacement crisis, with 14.3 million people—a third of the population—displaced in 2024. Does she agree that displacement at such a large scale poses not just a humanitarian crisis, but a direct threat to innocent civilians and the long-term prospects for peace? Our Government must do more to support diplomatic efforts to bring an end to those horrors.
Harpreet Uppal
I agree. The Government have taken some urgent action, which I will come to, but I agree with my hon. Friend’s call.
Half of Sudan’s population, about 25 million people, now need humanitarian assistance and protection. They face acute and extreme shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel. Famine is widespread and strikes first at the most vulnerable. Crucially, it is driven by the deliberate deprivation of livelihoods and the obstruction of aid. A cholera outbreak is also spreading across the country, compounding hardship that is already acute.
Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. In addition to the cholera, there is also malaria, which kills thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of children every year. There is also mycetoma—a new, neglected disease that literally takes the skin, muscle and bone off people. A dedicated research centre in Khartoum was looted and destroyed, so the very people who need help and treatment are unable to get it. I wished to add that to the debate.
Harpreet Uppal
I thank my hon. Friend for making those points. That is an awful situation that the people of Sudan should not have to go through.
The impact on children is particularly brutal. In some famine-affected areas, as many as 29% of children show signs of acute malnutrition. At that level, children risk lifelong complications even if they survive the hunger that they face today.
Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)
The hon. Member is right to highlight the 25 million Sudanese people living in food insecurity. As she knows, Sudan is protected from the cuts to overseas development aid, but a further 600,000 Sudanese people live displaced in places such as Chad; those other countries in the region are not protected from the cuts to ODA. Is the Government’s decision to cut ODA seriously impacting our ability to help the Sudanese people?
Harpreet Uppal
I will come on to that issue later, but I am sure the Minister has heard what the hon. Gentleman has said.
Previously, I have also raised in the House and with Ministers the terrible reality that rape and sexual violence are being used as weapons of war. Women and girls bear the brunt of the crisis: over 6.7 million of them are at risk of gender-based violence. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the UN found a 29% increase in the number of people seeking sexual and gender-based violence services. Reports of intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and the specific targeting of ethnic minority groups, are both widespread and on the rise.
Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)
I fully agree that this is a war being waged on the bodies of women and girls, but women are also women fighting back. I have met many brave women from women’s rights organisations, including my friend Emi Mahmoud, a UNHCR ambassador. Does my hon. Friend agree that when we are investing in our aid, we must ensure that a large percentage of it goes to women’s rights organisations that can lead the charge and find the solutions?
Harpreet Uppal
I agree with my hon. Friend and I will say more on those points later, but I thank her for everything that she is doing on this issue.
UNICEF’s report in March also highlighted a crisis of child rape and sexual violence. The #Women4Sudan campaign has tirelessly documented case studies of sexual violence in Sudan. The stories include that of a 14-year-old girl who suffered internal injuries after being brutally gang-raped; she was then let down by medical practitioners, who shamed the family. The young girl later died at home. In many cases, such stories never reach the outside world. The ongoing telecommunications blackout has made it extraordinarily difficult for survivors, families and organisations to communicate with journalists, humanitarian agencies and international bodies.
Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)
I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate, because this conflict is simply not getting the attention that it deserves. She has done more than most to raise awareness of it.
Just last week, my hon. Friend and I hosted a roundtable with Médecins Sans Frontières and the British Medical Association, among others, where we heard the kind of horrific details that she has been talking about. Regarding the sexual violence, we know that there are men assaulting women and girls on the road as they flee the conflict, seemingly with total impunity. Does she agree that the amount of parliamentary and political attention that the conflict receives, especially given what is happening to women and girls, is in no way proportionate to the scale of the humanitarian crisis that it is causing?
Harpreet Uppal
I agree, and I thank my hon. Friend, both for joining me at that roundtable and for the work that she is doing.
The blackout also hinders access to mobile money, which is used to buy essential goods. That enforced silence not only conceals the scale of the atrocities but actively impedes life-saving support and documentation of abuse. There are many courageous organisations and individuals working with survivors to protect them and to bear witness, but they cannot shoulder the burden alone. The sheer scale of the emergency requires a full humanitarian response.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate. It is often the innocent who get caught up in conflicts around the globe. We have heard today about some of the most harrowing offences, especially against women and girls, but also against minority communities and minority faith communities—especially the minority Christian community. We talk about diplomatic levers and how we should all apply political pressure. However, does she agree that we could also do something different—have an international military peace force, which could be deployed to help those residents and citizens?
Harpreet Uppal
I thank the hon. Member for his important point, which I am sure the Minister has heard.
Behind every number, there is a human being: a parent trying to find water for a child; a grandmother who has not eaten for days; a teenager who dreams of going to school but instead hears shellfire. As the rainy season approaches and worsening weather conditions make it increasingly difficult for aid to reach those most in need, the parties to the conflict continue to fight fiercely, heightening insecurity and disrupting critical trade and aid routes.
Hoy da, a member of the Sudanese diaspora community in my constituency of Huddersfield, has spoken of the
“colossal devastation and destruction of all aspects of normality of life in Sudan throughout the last two years”.
Hoy da also says that efforts by authorities to establish normality, and a return for those who have been internally or externally displaced, face severe challenges.
Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend not only for securing this debate, but for her leadership on these important issues and for ensuring that in this House we do not forget what is happening in many other parts of the world. She has spoken about the horrors that we see on our TV screens, which speaks to the experience of constituents she has met and those I have met in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Will she join me in urging the Minister to ensure that we do as much engagement with the Sudanese diaspora in this country as possible? The effects of the horrors that we see on our television screens are being felt big-time in communities up and down the United Kingdom.
Harpreet Uppal
I thank my hon. Friend for that point, which I will come to next.
Hoy da and the Sudanese diaspora community continue to play a pivotal role in assisting families, relatives and friends through financial remittances, but Hoy da told me that
“their needs are much bigger than the capacities of individuals”
and that international communities must come together to
“accelerate efforts and initiatives for de-escalation that may lead to a permanent end to the fighting.”
I thank Hoy da and all members of the Sudanese diaspora community. I know how much of an impact supporting loved ones stuck in danger will be having both emotionally and financially.
I am also aware that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has, under previous Administrations, committed to a diaspora engagement strategy, but that strategy has not been produced, which represents a missed opportunity. Without access to decision makers, diaspora and civil society groups cannot utilise their knowledge of the crisis to help shape policies. During the MSF roundtable that my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) mentioned, we heard the stories of medical workers in El Fasher. They were performing a caesarean section when soldiers from the RSF burst in, killing the patient and her unborn child. That is the reality of a healthcare system that is being systematically attacked.
Recent publications by organisations working in Sudan document testimonials from people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam in North Darfur, from which thousands fled to Chad after an RSF attack on the Zamzam camp. During that mass displacement, one mother told an aid worker that several of her children died of thirst on the road. Another spoke of pregnant women dying as they walked. One woman was raped during the attack. All left loved ones behind in El Fasher, a place they described simply as “hell”.
Those testimonies reflect just a fraction of the suffering taking place across the region, so let me turn to Darfur specifically. Its population of around half a million people is in dire humanitarian need. Following the April attacks on Zamzam internally displaced persons camp, half a million IDPs have been moved to Tawila, a small town in North Darfur. They face a catastrophic shortage of food, water, shelter, household items and healthcare. The wind and rains, which are due to start within weeks, will destroy shelters and contribute to the spread of disease.
The mass killings, rape, ethnic violence, starvation and humanitarian crisis that we are witnessing can no longer be tolerated by the international community, but frontline organisations are being pushed to breaking point. Agencies have told us that cuts to official development assistance have made it harder to maintain services; without urgent intervention, a major funding cliff edge is approaching in September. That is when multiple key humanitarian programmes are due to expire, with no confirmed renewal.
If the funding gap is not urgently addressed, the consequences for those relying on aid in places such as Darfur and Tawila will be devastating. The UK Government have made Sudan a stated foreign policy priority. I welcome the steps already taken, but the operational reality on the ground remains dire.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
I thank the hon. Lady for securing this really important debate; it is often said that Sudan is the forgotten conflict. Does she agree that we must urge the United Nations to enforce its resolution 2736, which mandates lifting the siege, particularly in the city of El Fasher, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid?
Harpreet Uppal
I was about to come on to that point, so I thank the hon. Gentleman for making it.
I know from conversations with organisations working in Sudan, and from previous discussions with Ministers, that the FCDO is trying to create a credible process for access and protection, and to exert influence in international forums, including in our role as the pen holder on Sudan at the UN Security Council. The UK introduced a Security Council resolution that called for protection of civilians and full, unimpeded aid access. The Foreign Secretary noted that he was appalled that Russia vetoed the resolution.
I know that the Foreign Secretary has a personal commitment to the crisis, having visited the Sudanese and Chad border earlier this year. Indeed, the Sudan conference hosted by the Foreign Secretary in April was another positive step, as was the commitment for an additional £120 million in aid from the UK, and the raising of €800 million from nations attending the conference.
However, despite the best efforts of UK Ministers and officials, the conference did not deliver on its primary aim of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Uma Kumaran
Does my hon. Friend agree that we must step up the international diplomatic effort? As the UN penholder, the United Kingdom both can and must lead the international community to help to bring an end to this awful conflict.
Harpreet Uppal
I agree, and I will come on to that.
We must build on the political capital generated by that conference and rejuvenate collective action. We need diplomatic strategies that achieve four things: the first is unimpeded humanitarian access across Sudan; the second is guaranteed and sustained access for UN agencies nationwide; the third is safe and open cross-border and cross-line routes for humanitarian workers and aid deliveries in Darfur; and the fourth is the strategic use of all points of leverage to encourage efforts to de-escalate the conflict. Those measures are urgently needed so that we can respond at scale and mitigate the suffering of countless Sudanese women, children and men against the backdrop of relentless violence.
I understand from conversations with organisations working in this space that, although the UN believes its current measures are easing the burden on civilians, the people on the ground tell a different story. Urgent action is needed to make the operational environment easier for humanitarian actors to navigate, so I shall be grateful if the Minister confirms what discussions she is having with the UN’s senior leadership to establish a meaningful strategy for expanding activities across Sudan. That strategy must go beyond the long-term goal of a ceasefire; it must also set out concrete support for non-governmental organisations, so that they can relieve suffering today.
The Government must also continue to scrutinise the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its plans for Sudan. Rigorous oversight is essential if we are to ensure that the promises made in New York translate to aid delivered in North Darfur, Khartoum and beyond. As the penholder, the Government must lead and support a large-scale humanitarian response, and use every diplomatic, legal and multilateral channel available to prevent further mass atrocities and to protect civilians. We must work with international partners, including those whose actions are fuelling the conflict, to ensure that we act in concert to bring this war to an end, and we must keep Sudan at the top of our foreign policy agenda and sustain the momentum generated by the April conference.
The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have shown how their diplomacy can deliver positive outcomes for the most vulnerable people in the world. We must now leverage those diplomatic relationships, including and specifically our relationship with the US, to work alongside state departments to help to achieve lasting peace in the region.
Mr Dhesi
My hon. Friend is being very generous with her time. In addition to minority communities such as Sudanese Christians, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis in Sudan, with widespread reports of indiscriminate and large-scale sexual violence. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very important that the specific impact of gender-based violence is placed at the heart of any future peace process, particularly in addressing the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war?
Harpreet Uppal
I absolutely agree. There is no doubt that rape and sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war, and we must consider that when deciding on our actions and priorities.
Solutions do exist. What is missing is the international political will to implement them with urgency. Members of this House, our international partners, the Sudanese diaspora community and the organisations labouring on the frontline are right to ask why the gap between promise and delivery remains.
I close with a reminder. Behind every statistic lies a face, a voice and a story. Behind every data point, there is an individual who dares to hope that the international community will help to alleviate their pain and suffering. Let us honour that hope by matching words with decisive action.
Several hon. Members rose—
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
Order. I need to calculate how long everyone will get to speak. Is everyone standing who wishes to speak? Okay. In that case, I call Jim Shannon.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I appreciate the opportunity to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for setting the scene so very well. She made an excellent speech that encapsulated all the ideas; I thank her very much for that. As always, it is a pleasure to see the Minister in her place. We are very fortunate to have a Minister who is very responsive and who understands the issues of human rights and persecution. I very much look forward to her contribution.
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief, I find the situation in Sudan to be of the utmost concern. I have spoken about this issue many times—indeed, there was an urgent question in the main Chamber just last week, to which the Minister replied. The hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) and others have referred to the Christians who are suffering unbelievable human rights abuses, persecution and unspeakable violence; the situation is incomprehensible. As a Christian, I pray for my brothers and sisters, as I have done every morning of my life; this morning before I left the hotel, I prayed for Sudan.
We must do more to support those being persecuted. It is great to be here to represent them and to get that point across. One of the things that disturbs me greatly, as it does us all—it is incomprehensible—is the sexual violence. I can never understand why that is done, but I think I can understand the horror that the women and girls are made to endure by those with guns and strength. I hope the Minister will tell us what can be done to help those women and girls who are subjected to the greatest of violence.
The recent events in Sudan are horrendous, most notably the bombing of three churches in El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces last month. That resulted in the death of five people, including Father Luka Jomo, the parish priest of the Roman Catholic church, and left many more injured. The RSF also seized two major camps for internally displaced persons, Abu Shouk and Zamzam, which house more than 700,000 people and have now been militarised. I hope the Minister can tell us what is happening in those two camps seized by the military, where 700,000 people are subject to whatever the RSF want to do to them.
The RSF’s repeated attacks on places of worship and systematic pressure on Christians to convert to Islam during the ongoing conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces are deeply troubling. Both parties have committed violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including attacks on vulnerable civilians seeking refuge in churches.
While fighting between the SAF and RSF has intensified in Darfur and Omdurman, targeted attacks on churches have continued since the civil conflict began in April 2023. Both armed factions were accused of desecrating religious spaces during military operations. They show an absolute disregard for church buildings and the right of people to worship their God if they so wish; they attack the sacraments in some churches, particularly Roman Catholic ones. There is the destruction of houses, of the community, of economic opportunity and jobs. All those things are happening. Many of us think that Sudan is the place that the world has forgotten. It disturbs us greatly.
Mr Dhesi
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. In August last year, the third official famine declaration of the 21st century was made in the Zamzam displacement camp in north Darfur. This year, it is projected that 65% of the Sudanese population will require humanitarian support. Does the hon. Member agree that the scale of human suffering in Sudan is unconscionable, and that ensuring access to aid should be a priority for the UK Government and international partners, to avert further death and suffering for the millions in Sudan?
Jim Shannon
I certainly do, and I commend the hon. Gentleman on raising that issue. As I and others will reiterate, he is absolutely right that the priority is to reduce the level of suffering. As he rightly says, this is unconscionable, but our Minister and Government, in partnership with other countries, have an opportunity to do more.
Furthermore, Christian communities displaced by Sudan’s civil war have faced restrictions on worshipping in refugee areas. As both a Christian and the chair of the APPG for international freedom of religion or belief, that greatly disturbs me. In Wadi Halfa, a town in the Northern state, displaced Christians were blocked last year from holding a Christmas service in a public park, where they had taken shelter, as they had been internally displaced and moved away from the violence.
Pastor Mugadam Shraf Aldin Hassan of the United Church of Smyrna said at the time that officials told the congregation they needed written permission to conduct Christian activities in a Muslim area, despite prior verbal approval from national security officers. There had been an agreement, but radicals with extreme ideas decided that they would not let it happen. Again, perhaps the Minister can give us some idea of what can be done to help our brothers and sisters in the Christian communities out there who are subjected to this each and every day.
Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)
There is no justification or excuse to prevent any human being from practising their faith, or no faith, wherever they live, in peace and without interruption or force. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that is a fundamental human right and should be protected wherever it can be?
Jim Shannon
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. My APPG believes in the freedom of belief for those with Christian faith, another faith and no faith. We protect them all, we stand up for them all and we speak for them all. I want to live in a world where everyone has the autonomy to practise their individual belief, if they wish to do so.
Sudan ranks as the fifth worst country for Christian persecution on the Open Doors “World Watch List 2025”, which notes that over 100 churches, Christian buildings and homes have been forcibly occupied during the ongoing civil conflict. The situation is dire, and more has to be done to stop this. In his intervention, the hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) expressed the desperation that we all feel, and the hon. Member for Huddersfield set the scene so incredibly well.
I will conclude as I am conscious that others wish to speak. I urge the Minister and the UK Government to use their influence to call for an immediate ceasefire, and to press, with others, for increased national efforts to protect civilians and places of worship in Sudan. A sustainable peace in Sudan depends on the cessation of violence. The violence must stop; if it does not, this will never end for the good people of Sudan, and for the protection of freedom religious freedom in all its communities.
Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this debate. The crisis in Sudan is something that we should all be seeing on our TV screens and social media feeds, and we should be debating it here in Parliament every day, yet tragically it barely features, so my hon. Friend’s success in securing this debate is all the more commendable. As we have heard so powerfully, in just over two years 28,000 people have been killed, 12 million people, half of them children, have been forced to flee their homes, and there are 15 million children in need of humanitarian assistance. The human impact of this conflict is truly shocking.
We know that the situation is particularly dire in North Darfur. Al Fashir has been described as a “city under siege”. At Zamzam refugee camp, starving people have been attacked, and aid agencies tell me that an estimated 450,000 to 500,000 have fled from the camp to Tawila, where they now live out in the open in extreme heat, with barely any food or water, and with diseases such as cholera taking hold. With the fighting now escalating in the Kordofan region, it looks set to be the next area of acute humanitarian crisis. As we have heard from other Members, that is not an accident; it is the result of a strategy by warring parties, at best, to allow civilians to be collateral damage in a vicious fight and, at worst, to deliberately and directly target them.
Let me turn to what needs to be done. As I think about what needs to happen in Sudan, in many ways it feels like a test of how we act in response to humanitarian crises more broadly in these new times. Our humanitarian aid budget is reduced, but our deep expertise and leverage in humanitarian action remain. The first thing to say is that funding is important, as it is in any humanitarian crisis. The £120 million that the UK committed to Sudan at the London conference in April—part of the £810 million aid package—will support 650,000 people with basic lifesaving aid this year, which we should be proud of.
What we do with the funding matters. We are increasingly good at focusing on interventions that are proven to work, such as the use of ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat severe and acute malnutrition. Who we fund also matters. Sudan is an example of why we have to get funding to the local responders in any humanitarian crisis, but in this case particularly to the emergency response rooms where there are extraordinary networks of volunteers embedded in communities, running community kitchens, feeding hundreds of families, operating mobile clinics, restoring basic infrastructure, and doing the work that international and humanitarian aid agencies are unable to do in the context.
Beyond funding, there are three further ways in which our actions can have an important impact in the crisis in Sudan and beyond. The first is by pushing for expanded humanitarian access. Large parts of Sudan are completely out of reach of the UN and international aid agencies, which is completely unacceptable given the scale of the humanitarian needs, so we must keep up the pressure on the warring parties and their external backers in Russia, the UAE and elsewhere to allow aid to flow in.
Sudan also shows why we may need new tools, whether it is in Yemen, Myanmar or, of course, Gaza. The denial of access to humanitarian aid has become a routine part of warring parties’ playbooks. We urgently need to find ways to create more expectation and more pressure. I think, for example, of the recommendation of my former employer, the International Rescue Committee, which has suggested that we should set up a new international mechanism to monitor and protect humanitarian aid access. That is just one idea.
The second point is about how we use our diplomatic assets and tools to push for a ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict. As one of the emergency response room spokespeople recently said:
“We cannot continue to respond to the crisis while the guns keep firing. The people of Sudan need a ceasefire—now—to save lives and to rebuild our communities.”
We have the opportunity of being the penholder on Sudan in the UN Security Council. We are rightly working with the African Union, the EU-convened group and others to make progress. We are looking outside of the established groups. I suspect it will be increasingly necessary to find informal coalitions of interested countries to work together for peace. It is complex and sensitive diplomacy, but it could not be more urgent.
The third point is about how we drive more accountability in these contexts for breaches of international humanitarian law. Last month five aid workers were killed in an appalling attack on a UN convoy near El Fasher. I am glad that we called for accountability at the time, but we see a sustained pattern of attacks on aid workers in Sudan and elsewhere. In the case of Sudan, the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor has now found reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity may well have been and continue to be committed in Darfur. We have to be clear that that is absolutely unacceptable.
I see the crisis in Sudan as a test of our compassion, but also of our capability in responding to humanitarian crises in the world today.
Alice Macdonald
My hon. Friend will know that we said “never again” in Rwanda, in Srebrenica and after the Holocaust, but we are clearly not living up to that promise. Does she agree that we need a comprehensive atrocity prevention and response strategy? That has been lacking in the UK Government for a number of years now.
Laura Kyrke-Smith
I agree with my hon. Friend that that is what is at stake here—I am sure the Minister will say more. I think that we are looking at that atrocity prevention strategy and we need to update it.
I will conclude by saying that for me Sudan is a test of whether we can successfully push to get aid into the most awful humanitarian crises in the world. It is a test of whether our diplomacy can play a stabilising role and help to be a force for peaceful solutions. It is also a test, as my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) said, of whether those who violate international humanitarian law will be held accountable for their actions. That matters for the victims of the conflict in Sudan, but it also determines what warring parties think they can or cannot get away with in future conflicts. I know the Minister is aware of a lot of this and feels the pressure. I look forward to hearing her thoughts.
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
We are going to set the clock for speech duration. Everyone has to remain within 4 minutes and 30 seconds so that everyone can get in.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Ind)
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this debate.
This war is both violent and catastrophic, entrenched in bitterness and brutality. It is backed by external actors feeding the atrocities enacted upon civilians, especially women and girls. We have heard graphically today of the levels of physical, sexual and psychological violence. We also see the tragedy of famine and disease, with floods expected to cause even further harm. While the world looks away and the political platforms are silent, today, as Back Benchers, we are calling Government to account over this humanitarian crisis.
The Sudanese need this Government and those around the world to step up. We need a strategy and relief to be met with opportunity and hope. The escalating suffering and brutality of war in Sudan since April 2023 exceeds that of all conflicts. As people move out, external actors are moving in, fuelling their interests and those of the warring parties, as are those with economic interests, particularly in gold. Darfur, as ever, is the focus of this conflict. We have heard today about the impact on El Fasher and the Zamzam camp for those already experiencing such tragedy. The scale of aid that is needed requires not only the UK Government, but those around the world, to step up. I plead again with the Government to move rapidly to restore the 0.7% ODA target, because our world is suffering and needs that replacement.
As we look at the strategic approach, we recognise that the three strands of defence, diplomacy and development need to be held in far better balance in order to achieve outcomes for people in Sudan and across our world. Therefore, as we look forward, we have to get the strategy and the financing right and, ultimately, diplomacy in the right place. It is essential that the African Union is empowered and strengthened through its regional efforts, but it is time for the Government to refresh a resolution at the UN, be mission-focused and ensure that the right measures are put in place for the next Security Council.
We know that time is not on our side and we have heard about the scale today. We need to focus on three strands. The first is the humanitarian response of food, healthcare and support for all those who are displaced, whether internally or externally, across the region and beyond.
The second strand is the protection of civilians. We need to develop strategies for sustained support, access for humanitarian and medical aid, aid at scale, better communications, the documentation of evidence of war crimes and adherence to international law. We need to ensure the creation of safe areas that are patrolled and protected. We also need to ensure that there is a trauma-based approach, and most of all that it is delivered on the ground through the experts who have developed the connections and reasons for it. We also need to move to disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and, ultimately, rebuilding.
The third strand is a political process. We know how crucial it is at such times to establish good dialogue and systems that enable conversations about not only accountability but moving forward to take place. We need to take a human rights approach while upholding international law. Governance must be rebuilt through civil society. We need to ensure that civil society is leading the dialogue and invest in that heavily, so that this will never be a forgotten war, but one where peace prevails.
Kate Osamor (Edmonton and Winchmore Hill) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this important and timely debate.
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is among the most acute and neglected emergencies in the world today. Since the outbreak of violence in April 2023, Sudan has become the site of the largest displacement crisis in the world. As of July 2025, more than 12 million people have been forcibly displaced due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. We are witnessing not just a conflict but hell on earth.
In 2024, Sudan’s humanitarian indicators collapsed even further. Famine looms large, cholera outbreaks have intensified, and more than 80% of hospitals have been destroyed or rendered unusable. In El Fasher and North Kordofan, civilians are trapped under relentless shelling. MSF withdrew after repeated attacks on health facilities, illustrating systematic violations of international humanitarian law. In its 2025 report, MSF warned:
“Mass atrocities are underway in Sudan’s North Darfur region”.
People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting but actively targeted by the RSF and its allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity. The RSF has carried out massacres, torched villages and attacked refugee camps in Darfur, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, including many who were originally displaced during the Darfur war in the 2000s. Sexual violence against women and girls from particular ethnic groups has been documented. Those atrocities, highlighted by the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, are war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Despite the UK’s £120 million pledge at the London conference on Sudan, the UN’s humanitarian response plan remains less than 50% funded. Aid is stranded in Port Sudan. Relief convoys are looted. People are starving, not because food is unavailable but because it cannot reach them.
The crisis demands a bold and principled response. Therefore, I call on the Government to address six points. First, they should release the remainder of the committed £120 million, to ensure that support reaches those in Sudan and neighbouring countries that host displaced people. Secondly, they should reconsider their wide cuts to the UK aid budget and safeguard long-term funding, especially for the post-conflict rebuilding phase.
Thirdly, the Government should use diplomatic levers to pressure countries, particularly the UAE, which has been credibly accused of arming the RSF with advanced Chinese weaponry, in violation of the UN arms embargo. Amnesty International has documented GB50A guided bombs and AH4 howitzer systems, previously exported only to the UAE, being used by the RSF forces in Khartoum and Darfur.
Fourthly, the Government should push for a fully monitored ceasefire and secure unhindered humanitarian access. Fifthly, they should expand resettlement schemes for Sudanese nationals, to ensure swift and compassionate protection. Sixthly, the Government should back accountability mechanisms, including the UN fact-finding mission and the International Criminal Court, to ensure that justice is served.
I honour the work of the Sudanese diaspora in the UK. Their advocacy, resilience and courage must be reflected in our foreign policy response. Sudan may feel distant to some, but the consequences of our silence are all too near—lost lives, fractured communities and a betrayal of our humanitarian commitments. Impunity is a threat to international security. If international law is to mean anything, there must be consequences. Let us be clear in this House today: the Sudanese people are not forgotten. We stand with them.
Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal), who is my constituency neighbour, for securing this really important debate.
Unfortunately, we live in a world of competing crises and wars, one overshadowing the next. Depending on how horrifying we perceive the situation to be, how close it feels, or how much the cameras are rolling, unfortunately some conflicts get forgotten or neglected. Some horrors are met with silence, not outrage. Sudan, in the grand scheme of reactions, is one of them. This is a really important debate to highlight the atrocities that are happening there today, and have been happening there for several years.
Since April ’23, Sudan has spiralled into a living nightmare for those living there or watching their country from afar. As we have heard, over 14 million people have been displaced, with cities reduced to rubble, markets bombed, women and girls raped, and entire communities starved. In August ’24, famine was officially declared in Zamzam, with a displacement camp in Darfur now home to over 400,000 people. As we have heard, over 25 million people across Sudan are food insecure, which equates to half of the country starving. Just like in most conflicts, more than half of those affected are children.
Most recently, just this month on 10 July, reports confirmed that at least 60 civilians, including 35 children, were killed in attacks near Bara. On 14 July, over 200 people were killed in RSF raids. El Fasher saw RSF shelling on 12 July, which killed five people, including children, and on 16 July shelling killed five more civilians, again including children. As we have heard, MSF warns of ongoing ethnically targeted mass violence, looting, sexual assaults, abductions, destruction of health infrastructure and starvation. This is unacceptable and we must do everything that we can to stop these atrocities.
Let us be clear: many of these atrocities, including using famine and starvation as a weapon of war, are not a natural disaster. It is not a drought or a crop failure; this is famine as a weapon of war, and the supply of weapons by our allies to the forces that are killing civilians on the ground. Warring factions, the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, are deliberately blocking aid and attacking humanitarian workers, turning hunger into a method of control. The United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and the US and UK Governments have all confirmed that the atrocities are war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide. Still, the world barely watches.
This is not just about Sudan. We are seeing a terrifying pattern in Sudan, Palestine and beyond, where famine and genocide are becoming the tools of modern warfare. “Never again” cannot become a slogan; it must be a promise that we honour for as long as we walk this Earth. These crimes can be stopped. The perpetrators are not acting in a vacuum; they continue to act like this as they know the world turns a blind eye when the world keeps weapons flowing into the country and humanitarian aid is treated as optional, not urgent and necessary. Sudan’s partners must exert real pressure on the conflict to stop the targeting of civilians and to bring the perpetrators of international humanitarian and human rights law violations to justice.
Today, I ask the UK Government to do everything that they can to stop the atrocities, save lives, get food to starving babies, and support the women and girls who have been subject to sexual violence. We must demand immediate, unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. The people of Sudan are not nameless victims of a faraway war; they are mothers, students, teachers, children—human beings deserving of dignity, safety and hope. Let us not allow Sudan to become a forgotten catastrophe. Let us not accept famine and genocide as the cost of inaction from the international community. If the weapons of war of famine, sexual violence and genocide are allowed to continue, they will be normalised, they will be repeated—and as always, our silence will mean our complicity.
Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to speak in this really important debate. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal), who was absolutely right to state that the war in Sudan is a war on civilians—that is what it is. She set out many of the truly grim statistics. I will try to put them in some perspective before building on the many calls to action that we have already heard.
My hon. Friend talked about the extent of displacement. I want Members to imagine that every single person living in this city of London had been forced to move, and then half again—every man, woman and child, whether frail or strong, ill or healthy, had been forced to move. That is the extent of the displacement that we have seen taking place in Sudan.
My hon. Friend talked about the extent of hunger—24 million people facing acute hunger. That is the same number of people as live in London, the south-east and the west midlands combined. It is only just less than the number of people who live in Australia. Can we imagine an Australia in which either people are already malnourished or they can stay nourished at the moment only by selling off livestock or other essential means of survival? That is the number of people we are talking about.
My hon. Friend talked about the 638,000 people who face catastrophic hunger—people who are living in famine. That is more than the population of Glasgow, Bristol or Cardiff. Can we imagine entering one of those cities and finding that one in three people is already acutely malnourished and there is an extreme shortage of calories per person per day? That is the extent of this catastrophe.
The numbers of those impacted by violence are staggering, and so is the depravity of the violence. Many Members have spoken incredibly powerfully about this. I have seen footage, particularly from Humanitarian Action for Sudan. I am very grateful for the work of that organisation, and to Zeinab Badawi and others who are so engaged. I have seen footage that I can never unsee. It is absolutely appalling. We have seen so many Rubicons being crossed. Sexual violence has already been referred to by colleagues. We have also seen camps for displaced people being purposely attacked, individuals being kidnapped and homes being burned.
So what to do? We have to maintain the political profile of Sudan. There is such a strong moral case; we all know that. There is also a strong security case, regionally and globally. We also know that, of the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children coming to our country, the highest number are from Sudan. We must maintain pressure for a ceasefire. We must work with the African Union. We must work with the EU-convened consultative group on Sudan. We must put pressure on those who deny famine, deny atrocities and refuse to engage with those processes. We must do more as the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister is committed to that, as are the broader ministerial team. We must ensure that perpetrators are held to account. Above all, we must act with urgency. We have already heard that Sudan is now moving to the rainy season. That, coupled with the appalling behaviour of all warring parties in restricting access to aid, will make the situation even worse.
I will end with a personal story—so many Members have told such stories about this situation. I met some of those who had fled from violence in Sudan when I was in South Sudan. At the camp of Bentiu, I met people who had fled. They were the only members of their family to have survived. Their siblings had died while trying to walk through floodwater. They had died because of exposure. They had died because of diarrhoea. They had died because they did not have enough food to eat. They had died because they had been killed by warring parties. They had been abducted by warring parties. That is happening time and again, and it is happening while the international community is failing to act.
Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I, too, thank my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing time for this debate, and for her continued commitment to raising the humanitarian situation in Sudan through debates, questions in the House and briefing meetings for Members such as me and others in the room with people from the Sudanese diaspora community and those who have experienced at first hand the tragedy that is unfolding in Sudan.
As we have heard, with the conflict in Sudan now entering its third year, the country is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises on record. The impact is wide-reaching. It includes mass displacement, shocking attacks on healthcare facilities and aid workers, a raging cholera outbreak and mass atrocities against civilians, including sexual violence and widespread gender-based violence. However, as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on nutrition for development, I will concentrate my remarks on the unprecedented severity of levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in Sudan.
At the start of this month, together with the Minister for international development from the other place and the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), I opened a photographic exhibition in Parliament on why nutrition is foundational to development aims in the UK. One of the images on display, taken by Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger, was of Nyibol; 27-years-old, six months pregnant and with a young daughter, she is one of up to 12 million people in Sudan forced from their homes.
Nyibol was forced from her livelihood as a peanut farmer, and had to endure an exhausting journey over four long days in search of safety because her village was attacked and her house burnt down. She was fortunate to be reunited with her husband and eldest daughter after being separated while running for survival, and to receive malnutrition screening on arrival at the border checkpoint, but many are not. This mass displacement, together with ongoing conflict, high food prices, a collapsing economy, disruption to supply chains, challenges in agricultural production, the breakdown of essential services, and severely limited access to healthcare, nutrition and humanitarian services is fuelling Sudan’s continuing slide into famine.
The most recent integrated food security phase classification report for Sudan, published in December, found widespread starvation and a significant surge in acute malnutrition, with half the population facing high levels of acute food insecurity. That includes more than 8 million people in the emergency phase, and at least 638,000 people in the catastrophe phase. The IPC’s latest alert, published 10 days ago, confirms that the situation will deteriorate over the coming months.
Despite the fairly favourable harvest season in parts of Sudan, major production gaps and supply barriers persist, exacerbating food insecurity. Constrained access to treatment services, worsening road access, and the increased threat of floods as the country enters its rainy season, raises serious concerns, especially for children, during the July to September lean season between harvests, which we are now entering. Levels of malnutrition are such that people are increasingly succumbing to treatable illnesses that would not normally be a threat to life, such as diarrhoea. This is a particular concern with cholera, which is already present and likely to spread in the rainy season.
We all know the importance of good nutrition to development. Without access to nutrition, the potential of each person, community, and country is held back. Entire economies are undermined, and poverty and suffering persist.
Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingley) (Lab/Co-op)
As my hon. Friend knows, the issue of malnutrition for the Sudanese is not contained to Sudan. Many millions of displaced people are in neighbouring countries, and those countries are unfortunately also suffering from conflict, whether that is Uganda, South Sudan, Eritrea or Rwandan militias in the DRC. Do we not need to also take action to ensure that the Sudanese are getting adequate nutrition when they are displaced into neighbouring countries that are also seeing conflict?
Steve Race
I completely agree, and of course Chad is home to many of the displaced Sudanese too.
Poverty and suffering persist and provide fertile recruiting grounds for extremism. It is encouraging to see the UK continue to take a leadership role as the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, and through convening the London Sudan conference, committing £120 million of UK aid to support over 650,000 people in Sudan this year.
However, with ongoing famine in Zamzam, in camps in El Fasher, and in the western Nuba mountains, which the Famine Review Committee warns is extremely likely to spread to additional areas, can the Minister update us on additional UK efforts to ensure the sustained delivery of food, nutrition, water, and health assistance to prevent further loss of life—particularly nutrition-specific interventions including ready-to-use therapeutic food? Recovery rates of children with severe acute malnutrition who receive a full course of RUTF are over 90%.
Can the Minister also update us on progress towards ensuring unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial actors across borders and conflict lines, including through the Adre border crossing and El-Obeid corridors, and to communities under siege in El Fasher and surrounding areas? Those access routes need to be expanded and stabilised now before the height of the rainy season. Finally, how are we ensuring that lifesaving aid, including RUTF to treat severe acute malnutrition, will reach those children who desperately need it, and that aid workers are protected?
Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this important debate and on putting Sudan in the spotlight, where it needs to be. This war is the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since the advent of the modern age, with 25 million people in acute hunger, famine abounding and a war on civilians and women and girls. It has displaced 13 million people. It directly affects us in Britain, too: about 10% of those arriving on small boats are Sudanese. I would like to focus on three questions: is our response to Sudan’s humanitarian need enough, are our diplomatic efforts enough, and is our work to support the establishment of a democratic civilian Government enough?
Across a world of proliferating conflicts, we are observing a growing disregard for international humanitarian law, with warring parties increasingly seeing access to humanitarian aid as a weapon to be wielded. The UK has attributed famine conditions in parts of Sudan to systematic aid obstruction by both the RSF and the SAF. We must continue to push for aid to get in and for warring parties to respect international humanitarian law, but we must also recognise that under these conditions, local groups are often best placed—and better equipped than international NGOs—to meet civilian needs.
Sudan’s emergency response rooms have become the international symbol of such groups. They are community kitchens, shelters and medical centres; they provide clean water; they treat and protect victims of sexual violence. Currently, they are reaching more than 4 million people. In response to my recent written question on the ERRs, the Government directed me to the £120 million spend announced by the Foreign Secretary at the London conference and said that a
“portion of this uplift”
would go
“to local responders…through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund”.
But so far this year, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund is just 23% funded. The total shortfall is over $3 billion, and a cliff edge looms because of cuts to USAID and other international donors. Our current contribution, although welcome, does not touch the sides of what is required.
I understand that the Government are still assessing how best to support ERRs and local actors, but I ask the Minister: since USAID has done the hard work of due diligence and bureaucracy, can we not step up now and do more? This Government have slashed Britain’s international development budget to its lowest level this century. Again, I urge the Government to reverse that. Ministers claim that Sudan will remain a priority, but it is unclear whether they will have the resources necessary to make a real impact.
The Government’s cuts now require us to rethink and reform. Localisation has risks, but we must acknowledge that when it comes to Sudan, the old ways may not work. The emergency response rooms may be an example of how to do it. Can the Minister please provide an update on how much of the £120 million pledged at the London conference has been allocated, and through which channels? Does that include support for displaced Sudanese in the region, particularly in Chad and South Sudan?
I turn to the subject of diplomacy. Before the International Development Committee, the Foreign Secretary told me that since the London conference he has had separate conversations on Sudan with the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He did not elaborate, however, so perhaps the Minister can. Have these conversations produced any tangible progress? If not, should the Prime Minister become involved to drive action at a higher level?
The war in Sudan is being worsened by outside state actors offering diplomatic, financial and sometimes military support to the warring parties. I am pleased that Britain has consistently expressed opposition to such behaviour, but words are not enough. It has been consistently reported and alleged, most prominently by The New York Times, that the UAE has been funnelling weapons to the RSF. The UN’s panel of experts on Sudan told the Security Council that those allegations are credible.
The UAE is a significant buyer of British military exports, so its purported actions raise serious concerns in relation to the strategic export licensing criteria. Not only are they a material consideration in relation to the risk of diversion, but they violate the spirit of other criteria. The FCDO is vital to decisions made by the export control joint unit, so I ask the Minister what assessment she has made of the reports that the UAE is supplying weapons to the RSF. That is a question that I have asked of her and the Foreign Secretary, and I have since received an inadequate response from the Minister for Africa. I will be grateful if the Minister can say what view the Government take of the compatibility of such actions with the strategic export licensing criteria.
It is not only arms that are fuelling this war; it is also gold. In response to a written question in June, the Government told me that since the war began,
“the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces.”
With the exception of the November sanctions on two RSF commanders, all those measures were imposed under the last Government. It has been more than a year since this Government took office—a year in which famine conditions were confirmed, and in which almost nothing has been done to address Sudan’s war through further sanctions. Why? It is good that three Russian entities linked to Sudan’s illicit gold trade have been sanctioned, but Russia is not the only implicated nation. It is not even the most significant. By far the most important player in the global trade of Sudanese conflict gold is the UAE, so why have no steps been taken to impose consequences on the UAE for its role in that trade?
To make a dent on the global trade in Sudanese blood gold, Britain would have to use sanctions strategically with a view to dismantling entire systems, as opposed to merely punishing one or two offenders. We will have to work closely with willing partners, particularly the EU, Canada, the Nordic states and the United States. Can the Minister assure me that these conversations are ongoing?
Simultaneously, we must drive high-level initiatives to bring key commanders and external actors to the table. There are reports of a new peace framework taking shape in Washington—one built not on inclusion and democracy but, it seems, on power sharing, resource control and the legitimisation of the SAF and the RSF. A deal must not be made by outside states over the head of the Sudanese people, so I am glad to see the Foreign Secretary’s commitment to a Sudanese-led transition to civilian government and to extending the UN fact-finding mission to Sudan, investigating human rights abuses and crimes. However, the Government can and should be doing more to support Sudanese civil society and democratic groups, both in Sudan and in exile.
I am aware that the Government, through Global Partners Governance, help to fund the anti-war, pro-democracy coalition. How is the Government ensuring that these groups in exile remain representative and accountable to the Sudanese people? Can the Minister outline the recent work of the UK special envoy to Sudan? How is the special envoy engaging with pro-democracy organisations and diaspora groups, particularly those in exile throughout the region? We must work with as many like-minded partners as possible and with willing allies such as Canada, the Nordic states and others. Can the Minister share how Britain is building diplomatic support for an inclusive peace process, centred on the civilian democratic voices in Sudan for a sustainable peace?
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Dr Huq. It is appropriate that, as someone who has always stood up for humanitarian causes, self-determination and the rights of peoples around the world, you are chairing this important debate. I thank the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall this afternoon, on the last day of term. She has been a principled voice on the issue in Parliament for a very long time; I commend her for it.
I also thank the all-party parliamentary group on Sudan and South Sudan—not least Glen Promnitz of its secretariat, who is here today—for keeping parliamentarians briefed and informed on the ongoing situation in the region, especially when so much of the world appears, regrettably, to have fallen silent. They have done an excellent job; I commend them for all their work.
I would like to refer to some, although not all, of the comments that have been made this afternoon. I have just said that the world is regrettably silent, but this House has not been silent this afternoon. I have heard some very passionate speeches and comments from all parts of the House. Considering how much is happening in the world today and how many issues we do talk about, we have not spoken as much as we should about Sudan. The nature of the conflict and the dreadful repercussions on the people of Sudan is absolutely horrendous, and we are right to debate it.
The hon. Member for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan) spoke about the health risks in the region. The hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) and other colleagues spoke about the importance of the diaspora in the United Kingdom. The hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) spoke about the use of gender-based violence as a weapon of war; he was right to do so. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), as chairman of the APPG for international freedom of religion or belief, spoke passionately about the issue and gave examples of where we need to highlight it.
The hon. Member for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith) talked about the denial of humanitarian aid as a weapon, a point that was taken up by the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed); I thank both Members for highlighting it. It seems that it is now common practice in conflicts that the withholding of humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon, which is dreadful and appalling. I was particularly struck by the speech of the hon. Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill (Kate Osamor), who spoke about war crimes and crimes against humanity, and about how justice is needed in such cases. She paid tribute to the diaspora here in the UK. She said that the Sudanese people are not forgotten and that we must stand with them. I agree. She summed up the mood of the House this afternoon.
The right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), who did a fine job in her time as Minister, spoke today with knowledge and experience of the topic. It is a shame that she is not still in her place as a Minister, but we thank her for continuing to take an interest in this very important subject.
Like other Members today, I wish to express my deep and growing concern for the people of Sudan, a nation in the grip of one of the most harrowing and shamefully overlooked humanitarian crises of our time. The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has torn this ancient country apart. According to the United Nations, more than 25 million people—over half of Sudan’s population—are now in need of humanitarian assistance. The World Food Programme warns that 18 million people face acute food insecurity, with 5 million in serious danger and over 750,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition. Hospitals and aid convoys have come under attack, entire communities have been displaced, and reports continue to emerge of ethnic cleansing, gender-based violence and mass killings, particularly in Darfur.
In April, as has been mentioned, the United Kingdom co-hosted an international humanitarian conference on Sudan. It announced that £120 million would be spent in humanitarian funding, supplementing the tens of millions provided by the last Government. However, nearly three months later, we must ask—and I hope the Minister will respond—what that money has been used for. Where has the money gone? Has the funding reached frontline organisations and local civil society actors working to deliver urgent assistance? Is it getting over the border at the scale required? Is there deconfliction to ensure that it is distributed to the innocent civilians who require that funding?
As the penholder on Sudan at the United Nations, the United Kingdom holds a unique and vital responsibility, but I must ask whether the UK is currently doing enough. Are we using our position at the Security Council to its fullest extent? What will the UK do through the United Nations Security Council in the time ahead to push for action on humanitarian corridors and for independent investigations into war crimes, and to hold the perpetrators to account?
More broadly, will the Minister tell us what new measures the Government are taking to compel the warring parties into a much-needed ceasefire? How is the UK supporting Sudanese civilian and political forces to engage in constructive dialogue processes such as the Cairo conference? What is the Minister’s assessment of the current effectiveness of such processes and of the Jeddah process? What action does she propose to take on external factors influencing the war?
The House would also welcome clarity on whether the Government are exploring replicating the approach of our American allies to sanctions. The United States recently imposed further targeted sanctions. The previous Government recognised that those measures send a clear message that those who commit appalling acts will be held accountable, which is why we implemented a number of sanctions on those supporting the activities of the Rapid Support Forces and of the Sudanese Armed Forces.
I welcome the appointment of the UK special envoy for Sudan, but that cannot be the sum of our response. It cannot be a substitute for a full and proper strategy, which I hope the Minister will outline later in her remarks. We, on this side of the House, call on His Majesty’s Government, first, to provide a full and transparent update on the disbursement and impact of the £120 million pledged in April; secondly, to clarify how the UK is supporting frontline humanitarian agencies and set out its diplomatic engagement with regional actors; thirdly, to push for stronger co-ordinated action at the UN and with our allies, including support for a ceasefire and accountability for atrocities committed; and finally, to clearly set out their position on where they could do more on the possibility of sanctions.
Finally, although this Westminster Hall debate is crucial for raising awareness and pressing for much-needed action, the gravity of the situation in Sudan demands the highest level of Government focus. I therefore urge the Foreign Secretary to come to the House at the earliest opportunity—probably not until September now—to make a comprehensive statement outlining the Government’s full and proper plan of action to address this ongoing catastrophe. We need to see a clear, unified strategy that matches the scale and urgency of this crisis.
Britain has long played a role in Sudan, with deep historical ties that stretch back centuries. From the days of General Gordon in Khartoum, and our administration of Sudan during the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, Britain has been intrinsically involved in the shaping of Sudan’s modern identity. A successful Sudan, then, is not distant from our national story; it is, in part, a reflection of ourselves. None of this happened in a vacuum; our knowledge of the region, long-standing diplomatic channels and moral voice on the world stage place the United Kingdom in a position to lead. We must honour that tradition in Sudan. The world may not be watching, but Britain must not look away.
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
Leaving time for Harpreet Uppal to conclude, I call the Minister.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Catherine West)
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Dr Huq; I acknowledge your interest in matters relating to human rights, humanitarian aid and Africa.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this debate; I am sure that many of her diaspora in Huddersfield are listening carefully to the arguments she has made. Indeed, we have a number of active MPs who mentioned the diaspora today, including my hon. Friends the Members for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith), for York Central (Rachael Maskell) and for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee). Our constituents care deeply about the welfare of Sudanese civilians. That is why it is so important that we have these debates and discussions.
I will try to answer Members’ points, but I specifically wanted to come to the question of our constituents to say that the Foreign Secretary has made a commitment—as part of our strategic diaspora engagement on Sudan—that the UK engages with civil society and diaspora at ministerial and official level. In December, the Minister for Africa, Lord Collins, attended a roundtable alongside representatives of the Sudanese diaspora and civil society, hosted by Dr Zeinab Badawi, president of SOAS University of London.
In the run-up to the London Sudan conference in April, we had an extensive engagement with civil society and NGOs, including at ministerial level, which provided valuable insights into Sudanese views on how to end this dreadful crisis. We complement that work with significant engagement with civilian groups inside and outside Sudan, and have supported civilian activists briefing the UN Security Council. As for any diaspora strategy, we are seeing it today in person through all the hon. Members from across the UK who have come to give voice to the concerns of their own constituents. We know that Sudan is enduring the most severe humanitarian crisis on record. As I outlined on 16 July in response to the urgent question, the situation is nothing short of catastrophic and the consequences of this brutal conflict are being felt. In terms of the numbers, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) said they were equivalent to half the population of Australia. To put it another way, more Sudanese are affected by this crisis than the number of people in Afghanistan, Gaza, Mali and Bangladesh combined.
With the rainy season approaching, the threat of famine and cholera will only grow, putting even more lives at risk. That is why I was so pleased to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan) mention the neglected tropical disease mycetoma, and the rather more common disease malaria, which will flourish in those conditions. It is clear that the humanitarian situation is being exacerbated by how the war is being fought, with both sides showing complete disregard for human life. Reports of appalling atrocities are widespread, civilians are targeted on the basis of ethnicity, sexual violence is rampant, and aid is being weaponised as both sides continue to seek a military solution.
As with many other conflicts—and as my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) so eloquently pointed out—it is women and children who are bearing the brunt. A shocking 25% of the population or 12 million people are estimated to be at risk of sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan—as was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi). Only last week in Sudan’s Kordofan region, more than 450 civilians were killed in brutal attacks, including pregnant women and at least 35 children. Over 3,000 people are reported to have fled recent fighting. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC—which was mentioned by several hon. Members this afternoon—stated that it has,
“reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur”.
That is why it is so important that we deal with the issue of displacement—which was raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Steve Race) and the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding).
In May, during her visit to the Sudan-Chad border, Minister Chapman announced that the UK would provide £36 million in funding for the financial year 2025-26 for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. The collapsing economy and acute food insecurity will hopefully be addressed by some of those funds. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC recently stated that it has reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes are being committed. We call on all parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international law. I include any external partners—as was raised by the hon. Member for Esher and Walton—regardless of which country they come from and their role, and ask that they put down their weapons and work together to find a peace process. That is why the Foreign Secretary led at the London Sudan conference this Easter.
As the humanitarian situation worsens, the very people trying to deliver aid to those most in need across Sudan have been continuously obstructed from conducting lifesaving work. More than 120 humanitarian workers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict. Just last month, the UNICEF-WFP convoy waiting to deliver lifesaving aid to those fleeing violence in El Fasher was attacked and five aid workers lost their lives, as was highlighted in the speech by my hon. Friend the Member for York Central, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for Sudan and South Sudan. Let me be clear: all parties must allow aid to reach those who need it most, and humanitarian workers must never be a target. I was very impressed by the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and other colleagues from the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in listening first hand to the accounts by doctors who have delivered medical aid in Sudan and the horrors of what they saw there.
The UK can, however, be proud of the fact that we are playing our part in addressing the worst consequences of this wholly unjustified war. Sudan has been a top priority for the UK Government since taking office, and indeed a personal priority for the Foreign Secretary, who in January became the first UK Foreign Secretary to visit Chad, when he saw first hand the devastating effect of war on refugee communities.
Our goals are clear: to secure more humanitarian aid, to ensure that it reaches those in need, to protect civilians and to stop the fighting and work with the Sudanese people to deliver long-term peace. The hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), speaking from the Conservative Front Bench, asked how exactly the funding would be spent. I can reassure him that the £120 million for this year will be spent on lifesaving aid, given the nutritional deficit there. The Mercy Corps-led cash consortium for Sudan, which is a multilateral group, will also receive UK funding to provide direct cash assistance to mutual aid groups on the ground, because we are aware that, with the banking situation in crisis, some multilateral organisations simply cannot provide the usual sorts of aid.
Catherine West
I apologise, but I only have three minutes.
We also want Sudan to be free of FGM—a priority that I know the hon. Member for Romford would be in agreement with—supporting the work of protection and prevention and providing care services in response to increasing rates of gender-based violence across Sudan. Of course, the funding also supports the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which delivers lifesaving support to communities across Sudan and is now funding the emergency response rooms that provide essential services to communities affected by the conflict in Sudan.
The hon. Member also asked what we are doing politically. Mr Richard Crowder, our UK rep, travels extensively across the region, including to engage with Sudan’s neighbours, which have traditionally had closer ties to both the warring parties. He has engaged extensively with efforts by Egypt and the African Union to foster a platform for civilians to come together and debate the country’s future.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury said, the UK can be proud of our leadership on the humanitarian crisis. The support that we have provided builds on last year’s £235 million of aid, which reached over 1 million people with food and cash, as well as clean water provision. During her visit to the region in May, Baroness Chapman announced an additional £36 million specifically for those displaced by the refugee crisis. Following the Sudan conference, we are using all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure that aid can reach those facing famine across Sudan. As the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, we continue to raise the alarm about reports of appalling violations of international humanitarian law, and to call on the warring parties to facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief.
I know very well that my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield will wish to say a few words, so I will conclude by impressing upon Members the importance of our values. Indeed, the Government strongly condemn the lack of freedom of religion or belief in the current context. We strongly condemn the reported killing of the priest Father Luka Jomo in El Fasher, North Darfur, as well as the reported bombing of churches, which killed and injured multiple people. I can reassure the hon. Member for Strangford that we will continue to champion the right to freedom of religion or belief by promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work and our programme funding. David Smith, the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, made a statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council in which he highlighted the UK Government’s concerns—I know he speaks for all of Parliament—about the coercion of non-Muslims in Sudan to change their beliefs through denial of work, food aid and education. In the absence of a ceasefire, the humanitarian situation will only worsen.
Harpreet Uppal
I thank all colleagues for their contributions to this debate and the Minister for her commitment and actions. At the heart of this are the people of Sudan, who need sustained, co-ordinated and courageous leadership from the international community. Let this House be part of delivering that.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in Sudan.