Female Genital Mutilation: International Action

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord will be aware that in 2014 we co-hosted the Girl Summit with UNICEF. At that summit we secured 500 signatories to a charter and more than 170 commitments from Governments, civil society and individuals. We are putting £35 million in place over the next five years, but this is a deeply bedded social norm. It has been there a long time. It will take time for people to come to terms with removing it. We have seen progress. Since our summit, there have been summits in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda, and last year there was an African Union-led summit in Zambia.

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that I worked as a nurse in Sudan? I saw the horrific effects of the most radical form of FGM, with agonising complications. I saw how many women, offered some amelioration—for example, following episiotomy for childbirth—refused help in terror of their husbands’ and families’ reactions. What more can be done to ensure that these DfID programmes effectively reach local communities and families, who are critical to the eradication of FGM? At present, many of these programmes do not reach grass-roots level.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, I know of the experience of the noble Baroness and the work that she does in this area. It is right and proper that we work with the countries where this is prevalent. If we are to change social norms, we need local communities on board with us. All our programmes in all the countries in which we operate put girls and women at the centre of everything we do.

International Development Policies

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Thursday 19th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, I, too, congratulate my noble friend on initiating this important debate. My NGO, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust—HART—provides aid for valiant partners in challenging conflict or post-conflict situations who demonstrate high standards of narrative and financial accountability. But given DfID’s current policy, they are unable even to apply for DfID funding.

I give two examples, from Burma and South Sudan. In Burma, HART supports Shan Women’s Action Network—SWAN—which provides aid to people in great need inside Shan State and in Thailand. SWAN previously received funding from DfID, but when we visited recently it was very distressed by DfID’s change of policy, which now makes it impossible for it to obtain funding. It says:

“DfID funding is being redirected via the IRC as their single fund manager for all programmes operating out of Thailand. This is unacceptable to SWAN and we are having to look for alternative funders”.

DfID explained its changing funding strategy:

“There will be a change in the fund management arrangement where DfID Burma is consolidating various Thailand programmes under a single Fund manager agent. We took this action in response to the Mid-Term review recommendation to improve on DfID’s accountability and efficiency in running this border programme”.

But SWAN has deep concerns about working with IRC:

“SWAN has accepted funds through IRC in the past but found the reporting requirements extremely demanding—very large amounts of paperwork that was often repetitive and unnecessary, meaning SWAN staff members had to spend a large portion of their time fulfilling reporting requirements, rather than on project management and evaluation. IRC also took a large amount of admin costs, much higher than other organisations. SWAN felt that the large amounts of money allocated to admin costs would be better spent on project activities that directly benefit needy people in the community”.

Therefore, SWAN will not take the funding if the project has to go through IRC. It will need to find new funding sources, as the DfID project ends this November. This is very serious. SWAN’s work is immensely important and DFID’s change of policy will have drastic effects on its ability to continue key programmes.

In South Sudan, HART supports the provision of aid in war-devastated Bahr el Ghazal, through our partner, the Anglican Bishop Moses Deng. This area has received massive influxes of refugees from Sudan—fleeing fighting in Abyei and the Nuba mountains—and, more recently, from the civil war in South Sudan. Bishop Moses sent an SOS to HART: a desperate plea for money for food. I responded with a heavy heart, wishing I were Bill Gates, saying that we are so small that the maximum we could send was a pathetic £10,000. We visited a few months later and the bishop said:

“Thank you for the £10,000. It bought a lot of sorghum and saved many lives. Then our own sorghum harvest ripened early and we were able to share that with the IDPs. I didn’t need to spend all your money. Would you like me to return it? But with your permission, I would like to use it to buy tools and seeds”,

for the IDPs. It is obvious what we said. However, when we visited those IDPs we found conditions of absolute destitution and not another NGO on the horizon. I asked the bishop whether he could apply to DfID for funding, given the reports of all the money DfID is making available to South Sudan. He replied:

“That’s impossible. We don’t have the resources to apply”.

He said that some larger NGOs came later, but by the time they carried out their assessments, and assessed their assessments, it was too late; but HART’s money saved many lives. There must be something seriously wrong with DfID’s system if a person of such standing and integrity faced with acute humanitarian crises cannot even begin to apply for life-saving funds.

I appreciate that the Minister will not be able to respond to specific cases today, but I passionately hope that these examples demonstrate serious problems requiring urgent consideration if DfID’s massive funding programmes are to reach people in such need of aid, through personnel who have the integrity and competence to justify the funds they deserve to receive.

Sudan: Bombardment of Civilians

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Cox]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of recent developments in Sudan, with particular reference to the continuing aerial bombardment of civilians in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Northover) (LD)]

My Lords, recent developments in Sudan’s conflict zones are deeply concerning. Continued attacks on civilian populations, including in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, are entirely unacceptable. We continue to support the mediation work of President Mbeki’s AU panel and to emphasise to all sides that the only resolution to these conflicts is through political dialogue, not military means.

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply. Is she aware that I recently visited Blue Nile state and witnessed first hand the devastating effects of the Government of Sudan’s escalating aerial bombardment, which deliberately targets schools, hospitals, markets and people trying to grow crops? People cannot grow food and many hundreds have died of starvation. The bombers now come equipped with search-lights so that they can kill by night as well as by day. Over half a million people have fled their homes and are hiding in snake-infested caves, in river banks and under trees. What are Her Majesty’s Government actually doing to call the Government of Sudan to account and end the impunity with which they are perpetrating this de facto genocide?

[Baroness Northover]

I am aware of the noble Baroness’s visit and I thank her for the report that she issued after it. I commend her for her commitment to this incredibly dangerous region.

Sudan: Meriam Ibrahim

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

Education is extremely important, and my noble friend is right to highlight our commitment to it. The United Kingdom Government raise human rights with the Government of Sudan. We are very much involved with human rights lawyers and organisations. We are training the human rights commission and trying to ensure that the majority of people in Sudan can follow their chosen religion and have freedom of religion and belief, and that those who are in minorities are not discriminated against.

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

Is the Minister aware that Meriam’s firstborn son, Martin, only about 18 months old, has been kept in prison with his mother because the authorities regard him as a Muslim and will not allow him to be raised by his Christian father, and that, if her death sentence is upheld, custody of her children will be granted to the Government because her husband is a Christian? Therefore, will Her Majesty’s Government raise with the Government of Sudan the issue of what is being done to assess the well-being of Martin, the little boy, while he is in prison, whether it is true that the children’s father will not be allowed custody of the children and whether that is in accordance with Sudanese law or an imposition of Sharia law?

[Baroness Northover]

We are keeping a close eye on the welfare of not only the mother but the children—I asked about this as I was being briefed—and we are in close contact with the defence lawyers. One of the striking things in this case is the application of an older law, which is not in keeping with the 2005 interim constitution or what Sudan has agreed under international human rights obligations. We are urging the Government of Sudan to undertake a comprehensive review of their penal code in the light of this, so that they now keep not only to what they have agreed within Sudan but to their international obligations. What is important is that the majority should be protected. We have an individual case here which highlights things; we must not forget the other cases, too.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Cox]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are addressing issues relating to female genital mutilation.

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, I am deeply grateful to all noble Lords contributing to this debate on a subject which is of the utmost gravity in its implications for appalling and avoidable suffering of millions of girls and women today. I am delighted that the noble Baroness, Lady Rendell, is speaking, as her tireless endeavours to address that barbaric practice are widely appreciated.

My deep concern originated when I was working as a nurse, implementing an immunisation programme in a remote desert area in Sudan in the 1980s. I will never forget my horror when I first saw FGM—the extent of mutilation and the unbelievable legacy of the remaining tiny aperture with complications of utmost severity for micturition, menstruation, sexual intercourse, risks of haemorrhage, increased risks to mother and baby during childbirth, depression, post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems. I will never forget the screams of young girls in the village when they were taken into the bush at night to undergo the excruciating cutting, often with a rusty knife or broken glass, with thorns for sutures.

Together with my noble friend Lady Masham, who regrets that she is unable to take part in this debate, we supported the late Lady Jeger and Lord Winstanley in the introduction of the first Bill to outlaw FGM in this country in 1985. Earlier this year, when I re-engaged with the issue, I was profoundly shocked to learn that FGM has continued unabated, with an estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women globally who have undergone FGM; and approximately 3 million girls are currently at risk of undergoing FGM each year in Africa.

In England and Wales, despite the 1985 Act, extended in 2003, in 2001 approximately 66,000 women had undergone FGM and 24,000 British girls under the age of 18 were at risk. That number is doubtless below the real figure, because many go to secret clinics or suffer in silence.

FGM is a very severe form of violence against girls and women, and of child abuse. Despite commendable actions by police forces—for example, Project Azure by the Metropolitan Police and Operation Sentinel by the West Midlands Police—and the action plan launched by the CPS in November 2012, there have still been no prosecutions for FGM in this country.

I pay tribute to anti-FGM campaigners such as Daughters of Eve, Equality Now and 28 Too Many for pressing for urgent remedial policies. Media coverage, including news reports, documentaries and the BBC television “Casualty” series have raised levels of public concern. FGM survivors, such as the brave young women speaking out in the recent TV documentary “The Cruel Cut” on Channel 4, are calling for those responsible for FGM to be held to account to protect future generations of girls.

I highlight the excellent report by an intercollegiate group comprising the RCM, the RCN, the RCOG, the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association and Equality Now, which makes important recommendations for Her Majesty’s Government and other stakeholders to develop a long-term strategy for treating FGM as a crime, with systematic and co-ordinated policies using health, social care, education and the police.

Protection requires early identification of baby girls, especially those born to mothers who have undergone FGM, as high-risk cases; their referral by health professionals as a child-safeguarding obligation to social care; and a follow-up plan to include education, counselling and support for parents. Sadly, the joined-up work needed to track such girls at risk is not happening. Except for emergency one-off cases where a girl is identified as being at risk of imminent FGM, referrals to social services are often dropped as they are deemed not to meet the threshold for assessment, and a care plan is not put into place.

Another weak link is in the education system. Most FGM occurs during a girl’s time at primary school. Teachers are expected to play a key role in protecting children from abuse, as they are able to detect warning signs and pupils may turn to them before contacting the police or social services. But in a recent YouGov survey for the NSPCC, 83% of the 1,000 teachers surveyed said they had not been given any training about FGM. Education about FGM should also be a compulsory element of personal, social, health and economic education, starting with primary-age children, because girls at risk need to be aware of the danger before they reach the most vulnerable age, which is between eight and 14 years old, to enable them to seek help, protection and prevention. FGM is a form of brutal child abuse and a crime, but the police cannot build a case for prosecution if they are not informed and there is currently widespread failure to refer.

I turn briefly to the crucial issue of support for survivors. As the number of people from countries where FGM is practised increases in the UK, there is an urgent need for policies to ensure access to support services and referral protocols between health, social care and other key services. This requires mandatory training and reporting requirements as well as a fundamental change of attitudes towards so-called cultural sensitivity and multiculturalism. There are far too many deeply disturbing cases where victims who have looked for help have been refused protection and support because of respect for local cultural traditions. We surely should never have allowed tenets of multiculturalism to take precedence over the law of the land, especially when the cultural practices being condoned are manifestly forms of torture, permanent injury and child abuse. We must move beyond this distorted priority and reassert the fundamental principle that culture cannot take precedence over the law of our land.

In your Lordships’ House last Thursday, I asked whether the Minister was aware that women who have had FGM and whose daughters are likely to be at risk of subjection to this abhorrent practice are not currently tracked through the National Health Service or social care systems, so that no preventive measures could be implemented; and why girls at school who show signs of having had FGM have not been referred to social services or the police for follow-up action. I also asked what Her Majesty’s Government are doing to ensure that robust information-sharing protocols are developed between health, social care and education agencies and the police so that appropriate actions can be taken to support victims and bring perpetrators to account. The Minister responded that on Monday—I believe it was Monday this week—the Health Minister, Jane Ellison, would be meeting healthcare professionals and stakeholders to develop policies on sharing information and data. I take this opportunity to commend Jane Ellison on all her endeavours to address this subject. Can the Minister give an account of the results of that meeting?

In conclusion, all experienced advocates agree that the time is long overdue for the implementation of comprehensive, joined-up policies of early identification, protection and support, procedures to bring perpetrators to account—as has been achieved in other European countries such as France, Sweden and the Netherlands—and an end to a culture of impunity which allows this mutilation to continue.

I finish by quoting Nimco Ali, a young British woman who lives in this country and is the co-founder of Daughters of Eve. She wishes her voice to speak for all those voices, either in far-away places or on our own doorsteps, that we cannot here hear tonight:

“There is a child somewhere today in this country, in school, in a hospital A and E Department or on a bus, who has had FGM or is at risk of this torture, who is counting on us to help her with her physical or emotional trauma—or crying out to stop it happening. That child’s protection is our responsibility. For over 25 years such children have suffered this appalling practice in this country. For how many more years will we allow this extreme child abuse to continue with impunity? The UK is laughing stock of Europe”.

She also said that girls are sent to the UK because we are seen as a soft touch. Those are not my words but those of a very articulate British woman who has endured the agony, humiliation and psychological trauma of FGM. I hope that the Minister’s reply tonight will bring substantial hope to victims, and to those living in terror of becoming victims, of this indescribable horror of FGM.

Human Rights

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, I warmly congratulate my noble friend Lord Alton on his tenacious commitment to justice and the protection of human rights. From a vast array of concerns, I will focus today on Burma and Nigeria.

The widely celebrated reforms in Burma are welcome but while western political leaders, investors and aid agencies flock to Rangoon, many ethnic national peoples suffer military offensives, gross violations of human rights by the Burmese army and exploitation of their natural resources by the Burmese Government.

The Muslim Rohingya people suffer systematic oppression, with 140,000 forced to live in dire conditions in camps in Rakhine state and thousands more forced to flee to Bangladesh or in precarious boats to other countries. Human Rights Watch describes the situation as “ethnic cleansing”. Will Her Majesty’s Government support calls for an independent international inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity?

My small NGO, HART, works with partners in Shan, Kachin, Karen and Karenni states. We have visited them to witness the plight of their people, which has not been reported by the media. In Kachin and Shan states, the Burmese army continues military offensives, driving hundreds of thousands of civilians to camps for the displaced. We have seen their destitution and heard heartbreaking stories of atrocities perpetrated by the army, including the recent rape of girls aged eight and 15.

Land confiscation and environmental degradation from investment projects are increasing, as in northern Shan state, with China’s oil and gas pipelines. Indeed, people in Shan state are asking what sort of peace this is, when they are losing more and more of their lands and livelihoods.

In Karen state, the cessation of fighting is welcome, but the ceasefire allows the Burmese army to build more, larger camps along the Salween river and the Burmese Government to exploit, destroy or confiscate natural resources, with no compensation. Human rights violations by the Burmese army, including sexual violence against women, continue with impunity.

Burma’s ethnic national peoples share many concerns; for example, that the 2008 constitution, which does not recognise the rights of ethnic national peoples or allow for the development of a federal union, will become the accepted political road map for Burma, and that ethnic national people, who retain their armies for protection from Burmese military aggression, will be seen as rebel groups with rebel armies.

Their situation is best expressed in the words of their own local leaders. I quote a leader of the Shan people:

“The Burmese Government has conceded just enough credibility to achieve everything it wants from the international community: investment, aid and hosting international events”.

A senior officer in the Shan state army said:

“When the lights went on in Rangoon, everyone rushed there—and nobody stopped to visit us in the darkness”.

A healthcare worker helping displaced people in the jungles of Karen and Karenni states said:

“They are playing a game like Chess: take one piece at a time. While they sign a ceasefire with the Karen, they launch major offensives in Kachin State. They wear a beautiful mask, but the original face, which is brutal, is hidden”.

Will Her Majesty’s Government make much stronger representations to the Burmese Government to desist immediately from military offensives against civilians in Kachin and Shan states; to increase humanitarian assistance to displaced people in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states and allow unhindered access for international aid and human rights organisations; to call the Burmese army to account for violations of human rights, including murder, torture and rape; to ensure that concessions granted to the Burmese Government in recognition of recent reforms do not promote exploitative investment; and to allow ethnic national people to participate in discussions and agreements concerning the extraction of resources from their own lands—and the future of Burma?

I turn very briefly to the disturbing situation in Nigeria’s northern and central belt regions. The escalation of violence in the past two years by the Islamist Boko Haram movement follows two decades of violence in which thousands of Christians have been killed and hundreds of churches destroyed. Although Christian communities may have resorted to self-defence, the instigation of violence has been consistently asymmetrical, and now Boko Haram has stated its commitment to drive all Christians out of northern Nigeria.

We work with partners in Plateau, Kano and Bauchi states. These states are generally not visited, for security reasons—which is why we have gone there—and we have seen the suffering of local communities, as well as initiatives by local leaders, such as the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi, and the Anglican Bishop of Bauchi, to promote reconciliation between the different faith communities. Given Boko Haram’s escalating violence against Christians and its equally brutal killings of Muslims who do not support it, will Her Majesty’s Government do more to support these initiatives, in addition to the already well supported programmes in Kaduna state?

I conclude by expressing gratitude for the opportunity to highlight situations that we encounter working with victims of oppression, who are often trapped behind closed borders or off the radar screen for security reasons. I hope that the Minister will be able to give some reassurance to some of these hidden victims of violations of human rights in our world today.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cox]

My Lords, I wish to offer first-hand accounts of causes of deep concern in three countries I have visited this year. The first concerns Burma where there are welcome reforms but many problems remain, including severe violations of human rights affecting ethnic and religious minorities such as the predominantly Muslim Rohingya, the Christian Kachin and the Buddhist Shan peoples.

The Rohingya people have suffered horrifying waves of violence, displacing at least 130,000, with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths. Moreover, security forces have often failed to prevent the killing of civilians and destruction of Muslim homes, shops and other property. Those forced to flee to camps are living in conditions of appalling squalor, many dying from disease without medical care. May I ask the Minister what steps Her Majesty’s Government have taken to press the Burmese Government to ensure that security forces act swiftly to protect vulnerable communities, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of violence, prevent the spread of anti-Muslim propaganda and hate speech, and end impunity? May I also ask whether Her Majesty’s Government have raised with the Burmese Government the denial of citizenship for the Rohingya people, who, despite living in Burma for generations, exist as a stateless people?

I turn briefly to the plight of the Kachin people. In June 2011, the Burmese Army broke a long-standing ceasefire with Kachin state and fighting continues. I visited Kachin state in February and saw the dire predicament of at least 100,000 people displaced from their homes by military offensives and human rights violations by the Burmese Army, with killing of civilians, arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and destruction of villages. At least 66 churches have been destroyed in the past year. May I ask what efforts Her Majesty’s Government are making to press the Burmese Government to end these military offensives and engage in a meaningful peace process with the Kachin and other ethnic nationalities?

Persistent violations of ceasefires also continue in Shan state, where the Burmese army continues to attack Shan people and to commit grave human rights abuses. May I ask whether Her Majesty’s Government will press the Burmese Government to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to all conflict-affected states, and what humanitarian assistance Her Majesty’s Government are providing? As the monsoon season approaches, the current dire humanitarian situation could become catastrophic.

The ethnic national peoples of Burma fear that the warm welcome given by the international community to the reforms will result in massive investment, which the Burmese Government will use for more exploitation of the resource-rich lands of the ethnic national peoples, with further expropriation and displacement. As one of the Shan leaders said to us with deep concern, “When the lights went on in Rangoon, all the world rushed there and no one stopped to see us in the darkness”. Given the decision to lift EU sanctions on Burma, may I ask the Minister what measures the EU, including the United Kingdom, will use to pressure the Burmese Government to stop these human rights violations, ensure genuine constitutional change, which includes a just political settlement for the ethnic nationalities, and bring an end to these decades of war and oppression?

I turn briefly to the new republics of South Sudan and Sudan, having been twice this year to South Sudan and once to the conflict-afflicted areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan. South Sudan needs massive assistance to recover from the war inflicted by the former north, in which 2 million people perished, 4 million were displaced and virtually all the infrastructure was destroyed. I had the privilege of being invited to the Independence Day celebrations in June 2011, where the joy of freedom was tangibly exuberant, alongside the sober challenges confronting the new nation. As President Salva Kiir said, it was not a case of rebuilding, as there was nothing left to rebuild.

The Government and the peoples of South Sudan deserve congratulations on their achievements in the 22 months since independence. Of course, there are massive problems, including inevitable internal conflicts in a post-conflict tribal society, with historic tribal tensions exacerbated by unemployment, especially of demobilised soldiers, a generation of children who have not been able to attend school because of constant aerial bombardment, some of the worst health statistics in the world, with only 15% of the population receiving immunisation, and a desperate need for roads in a country which, at independence, had only a few kilometres of tarmac road. The problems are exacerbated by the Republic of Sudan’s aggressive policies, including military offensives into South Sudan and sponsoring South Sudanese insurgents and criminal groups. There is also the problem of continuing violence along the border, especially in the disputed Abyei region.

However, I am delighted to see many signs of progress in South Sudan, including establishment of institutions of civil society, programmes for reconciliation between conflict-prone tribal factions and investment by major international companies. Can the Minister say what specific initiatives Her Majesty’s Government are taking to promote UK investment in South Sudan, as it is essential for the development of this vulnerable new nation trying to develop as a true democracy in a very challenging part of Africa?

Finally, I turn to the Republic of Sudan, still under the rule of General al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, together with two of his senior colleagues, one of whom he has imposed in a ruling position in southern Kordofan. Al-Bashir has declared his intention to turn the Republic of Sudan into a unified Arabic, Islamic nation. He is pursuing his racist policy of ethnically cleansing the African peoples from Blue Nile state and the Nuba Mountains in Southern Kordofan. Earlier this year, I witnessed constant aerial bombardment of innocent civilians, forcing half a million to flee their homes and hide in snake-infested caves, under trees or in river banks. Many have died of starvation as they cannot grow or harvest crops and a quarter of a million have had to flee to overcrowded camps in South Sudan. I and other noble Lords have repeatedly asked what pressure Her Majesty’s Government have put on the Government of Sudan to desist from this aerial bombardment of civilians which has caused such a massive toll of death and injury, and I do so again this evening.

Her Majesty’s Government claim that they wish to continue to “talk” to Khartoum. However, as many of us have emphasised, Khartoum continues to kill while it talks. There are also numerous other causes for concern in Sudan, including expulsion of many NGOs, attacks on Christian churches and schools and serious infringements of fundamental human rights, including freedom of the press. These deserve a separate debate. May I ask the Minister what Her Majesty’s Government are doing to bring an end to this culture of impunity, which allows, inter alia, mass killings and injury on that huge scale? May I also ask whether Her Majesty’s Government might consider assisting indigenous organisations in those conflict-affected areas, especially in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, with the provision of life-saving food and medical supplies for civilians currently dying from starvation and disease? In one village we visited in Blue Nile, 450 people had died from starvation and those still alive had had to flee into the bush from aerial bombardment targeting their village. The people of Sudan and South Sudan look to the British Government as having a special responsibility to help, not only because of our historic responsibility but our continuing duty as part of the three-nation group responsible for monitoring and assisting with the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement.

Our friends in Burma, Sudan and South Sudan passionately hope that we will hear more substantive promises from the Minister—if not tonight, in due course—to bring encouragement to people who have suffered too much for too long at the hands of Governments who continue to kill and inflict suffering on so many of their own people in Burma and Sudan with virtual impunity.

Sudan and South Sudan

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Cox]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the humanitarian crisis in the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, we are deeply concerned at the serious humanitarian impact of conflicts between Sudan and South Sudan, and within both countries. We are closely engaged with the UN and other humanitarian agencies to ensure an effective response to the needs of affected people, and are pressing both Governments to enter into political processes to resolve conflicts.

[Baroness Cox]

I thank the Minister for her sympathetic reply. Is she aware that I recently returned from a visit to four camps on the Sudan/South Sudan border, where 250,000 refugees have fled from sustained aerial bombardment by Khartoum or been expelled by President al-Bashir’s commitment to turn Sudan into a unified Arabic Islamic state? Conditions in those camps were dire then; they are now becoming catastrophic, with a rapidly rising death toll. Will Her Majesty’s Government make strong, urgent representations to Khartoum to cease aerial bombardment of its own civilians, and across the border in South Sudan? It is in no way justified by President al-Bashir’s allegation of military action by South Sudan, which bears no comparison with his massive, sustained slaughter of his own people?

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I am aware of the noble Baroness’s visit, and I thank her for giving me a copy of her draft report. I am aware, as the House is, of all her work in this area. She reports some terrible stories within it.

Continued aerial bombardments by the Sudanese armed forces are absolutely unacceptable, and we condemn them. Ministers and officials at our embassy have pressed this point during meetings with Sudanese counterparts. We worked very hard with Security Council partners to achieve unanimous support for UN Security Council Resolution 2046, which saw the Security Council demand under Chapter 7 of the UN charter a political resolution to conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, as well as addressing wider issues in both countries. We are also very actively monitoring the humanitarian situation and getting supplies in place.

South Sudan

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Grand Committee

Asked By

[Baroness Cox]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions they are making to support the Government of South Sudan, with particular reference to the development of good governance and responding to the humanitarian crisis.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Cox]

My Lords, I am most grateful to all noble Lords for contributing to this debate. I will focus primarily on the humanitarian crisis aspect of the question because of the scale of suffering and because it is difficult to develop good governance for people in destitution and danger with a hostile neighbour potentially destabilising a fledging nation. President al-Bashir has stated his objective of turning the Republic of Sudan into a unified, Arabic, Islamic nation and is pursuing policies to achieve this, including targeted air bombardment of the African people of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile and denial of access by aid organisations to victims of his offences.

In Abyei, after fighting erupted last May over 120,000 indigenous Ngok Dinka fled to South Sudan. Although some civilians have returned to locations near the town, many still remain in camps in Bahr-El-Ghazal. Last year, I visited one of the improvised camps with my organisation, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, where we saw acute shortages of essential supplies causing great hardship to those refugees. In South Kordofan, over 300,000 people have been displaced by Khartoum’s targeted aerial bombardment of civilians and ruthless murder of individuals. Khartoum is denying access by aid organisations to people in dire need. Refugees arriving in camps in South Sudan, such as Yida, have walked for days without food or water and Khartoum has even bombed the camps inside South Sudan. When refugees arrive there, they are so terrified of bombs their first priority is to dig a shelter to try to provide protection.

Reports from Blue Nile describe offensives and atrocities perpetrated by the Government of Sudan similar to those in South Kordofan: aerial bombardment by Antonovs and helicopter gunships, denial of access for humanitarian aid, extrajudicial killings, detentions and torture of civilians and looting of civilian properties. Eighty thousand refugees have fled from Blue Nile into Upper Nile in South Sudan, where they reported that they had also been subject to aerial bombardment by Khartoum. The UN has warned that half of the camps for refugees in Blue Nile in South Sudan will be underwater during the imminent rainy season with dire consequences.

There are also numerous reports of intimidation and assaults on Southern Sudanese living in the Republic of Sudan, including a continuation of Khartoum’s well documented policy of enslavement. It is well known that hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese were abducted and enslaved in the north during the war, and many are still missing. Now, there are reports of further abductions, especially of boys, who are forced to serve in Khartoum’s armed forces. Tens of thousands of Southern Sudanese are now fleeing from the north to a devastated South Sudan, which is already inundated with refugees from Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. For example, 86,000 returnees arrived in Unity state, which is equivalent to 15 per cent of the host population. According to Bishop Moses Deng of the Anglican diocese of Wau in Bahr-El-Ghazal:

“The returnees from northern Sudan are repatriated to South Sudan carrying nothing with them except their sleeping mats and blankets on which they put their shrunken limbs and protect their empty bellies from cold or heat”.

I had the poignant privilege of attending the independence day celebrations last July and witnessed the people’s ecstatic celebration of freedom from a Government who had killed, enslaved and oppressed them for decades. However, the new Government of South Sudan, emerging from years of war, have to try to develop democracy in the context of devastation and destitution, a destroyed infrastructure, widespread illiteracy for a generation of children unable to attend school because of constant bombardment and such a shortage of healthcare that over 85 per cent of people have no immunisation and are vulnerable to diseases such as polio, TB, diphtheria and tetanus. One in seven mothers dies in pregnancy or childbirth and one in seven children dies before the age of five.

A catastrophic food shortage is also looming. A report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme, which was published on 13 February, warns that below average harvests in 2011, insecurity and conflict in many areas, increased demand from the growing number of IDP, refugee and returnee populations and high cereal prices may result in nearly 4.7 million people in South Sudan facing hunger this year if urgent action is not taken.

It is hard to build democracy on empty stomachs, and the challenges facing the new Government of South Sudan have been massively exacerbated by its neighbour the Republic of Sudan. There is widespread concern that the people of South Sudan are perceiving Her Majesty’s Government’s responses as inadequate. Al-Bashir’s policies are so systematically ruthless that they have been described as crimes against humanity and genocide. The catalogue of violations of human rights has been chronicled over the years with devastating authority by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Satellite Sentinel Project and UN human rights investigators. There have also been numerous reports of what is increasingly seen as the racist dimension of Khartoum’s assaults against its African citizens in Darfur, Abyei, Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Time allows only one typical example. A Nuba resident of Kadugli told Agence France-Presse that a member of the paramilitary Khartoum Popular Defence Forces said that they had been provided with plenty of weapons and ammunition, and a standing order:

“He said that they had clear instructions: just sweep away the rubbish. If you see a Nuba, just clean it up. He told me he saw two trucks of Nuba people with their hands tied and blindfolded, driving out to where diggers were making holes for graves on the edge of town”.

After Rwanda, the British Government famously said that they will never condone another genocide, but this is precisely what they are now perceived to be doing. The African peoples of Sudan and South Sudan, having seen Britain’s powerful intervention in Libya, are beginning to wonder whether the UK’s foreign policy is influenced by some racism. Far more people have been killed and displaced in Sudan and South Sudan than in Libya but, as they see it, the British Government merely continue to talk with Khartoum. For years, the British Government have talked while Khartoum has continued to kill. I have been making this point in your Lordships’ House for two decades and it grieves me beyond words that I have to do so again today.

There are sometimes implications in statements by Her Majesty’s Government of a kind of moral equivalence comparing Khartoum’s ruthless policy of the slaughter of its civilians with policies adopted by the Government of South Sudan, but the systematic and ruthless targeted aerial bombardment causing widespread death, injury, destruction and displacement of civilians is a policy exclusively used by Khartoum.

I shall conclude by asking the Minister five questions. First, now that the United Kingdom has assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council, will Her Majesty's Government support an initiative for an international independent committee of inquiry to be sent by the UN Security Council to Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile to investigate and report on human rights violations and abuses, and allegations of crimes against humanity? Secondly, will Her Majesty’s Government also consider targeted sanctions, including a UK trade embargo and diplomatic sanctions imposed on senior politicians in Khartoum’s ruling party, and downgrading diplomatic relations with the Government of Sudan from full ambassador level?

Thirdly, will Her Majesty’s Government promote the cessation of official arms transfers and initiate action against companies which sell military equipment to Khartoum to reduce Khartoum’s capacity to wage war on its own citizens? Fourthly, will Her Majesty’s Government work with the international community to do much more to ensure arrangements for urgent delivery of aid into South Kordofan and Blue Nile before the rainy season makes delivery of aid impossible? Finally, will Her Majesty’s Government help the Government of South Sudan to meet the urgent needs for food aid, healthcare and education so massively exacerbated by the vast numbers of refugees and returnees?

If the Minister can respond positively to some of these requests, this might reassure those who are deeply disturbed by the perceived failure of Her Majesty’s Government so far to respond more appropriately to the continuing atrocities, perceived as tantamount to genocide, perpetrated by Khartoum against its own people; and also demonstrate a robust commitment to assisting the new Republic of South Sudan to emerge from decades of war and humanitarian crises into the stable democracy and freedom for which its people have paid such a high price, for which they yearn and which they deserve.

Abyei

Baroness Cox Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend raises the important point of Abyei being able to hold the referendum. We are urging both sides to come back to the negotiating table. It is crucial that the people of Abyei have a say. Unfortunately, the current circumstances make that incredibly difficult, but we will, through the international community and the UN and UNMIS, continue to urge both sides to come to the table.

[Baroness Cox]

Is the noble Baroness aware that when I visited Southern Kordofan last year the people there were so terrified of their future under Khartoum—they are in a very similar situation to Abyei—that they believed that they might have to take a pre-emptive strike? Does she agree that any further conflict will further undermine the stability of Southern Sudan as it prepares for its independence? What reassurance can be given to the people of all these marginalised areas—Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei—that their future rights and their security and protection will be provided?

[Baroness Verma]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right that the people of those regions have to feel that they are part and parcel of the negotiations and that currently they feel marginalised. We urge, through President Mbeki’s AU High-Level Implementation Panel and the United Nations and UNMIS, that these issues are resolved peacefully, but we realise that it is a difficult area. We are going back to the international community time and again to ensure that the concerns that the noble Baroness and others raise are always at the table.