Sudan

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by declaring my interest as recorded in the register. It is always a pleasure to speak in this Chamber, not only because of the expertise but because of the clarity and compassion with which noble Lords speak.

I welcome this critical debate on a matter of urgent global concern: the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that is developing; the largest displacement crisis in the world; an education system in crisis, with 19 million children out of school; and an unprecedented situation of mass starvation, with more than 25 million people experiencing acute hunger.

In North Darfur, one of the country’s largest displacement camps, Zamzam, is now confirmed to be in a famine situation—a historic, terrible and shameful milestone. Those facing the worst of the country’s hunger crisis live in areas where violence has been the most intense. Fighting has disrupted harvests, and many families fleeing their homes and without income can simply not afford food. NGOs and local responders report children dying of malnutrition daily, families barely managing one meal a day, and people resorting to eating leaves and locusts.

The main driver of famine is the conflict and the complete disregard for international humanitarian law. Civilians are not only hungry; they are being starved, with the warring parties using food and aid as a weapon. Parties to the conflict have also systematically targeted essential healthcare, electricity, water, telecommunications and fuel infrastructure.

In Darfur, large-scale attacks on civilians based on ethnicity led to the mass killing of thousands and forced a mass exodus to Chad last year, echoing the mass atrocities of the early 2000s. Across the country, rape and other forms of sexual violence have been widely used as a weapon of war. According to Human Rights Watch, sexual violence has been a central part of the campaign of ethnic cleansing in El Geneina and has spread to Khartoum Bahri, with reports of rape, gang rape and forced marriages. Victims have also been subjected to conditions resembling sexual slavery.

In response to these shocking events, there has been a shocking apathy from the world, in stark contrast to the global action taken 20 years ago following the genocide in Darfur. Today, as millions of Sudanese again face starvation and displacement, I hope that we can revive that spirit of international solidarity.

With that in mind, I want to put five points to the Minister. First, the Sudanese people have shown admirable resilience, but they cannot carry on alone for ever. They are calling for decisive international action. Sudanese civil society is calling for the urgent establishment of a civilian protection force, particularly in Darfur, through the African Union and United Nations. Their appeal is that this force should include mobile units focused on high-risk areas, with specific emphasis on supporting women and girls. Can the Minister say whether the Government support the establishment of a dedicated force to protect civilians, monitor human rights abuses and facilitate the return of displaced people, and, if so, what diplomatic action has been taken to bring it about?

Secondly, a recent Amnesty International report revealed that weapons from China, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and the Gulf are flooding into Sudan, including Darfur, despite a UN arms embargo. While we all welcome the UN Security Council’s unanimous decision—how refreshing that was—to renew the arms embargo for another year, I must question whether an extension without effective enforcement is meaningful, and why the embargo does not cover the whole of Sudan. Does the Minister share these concerns, and is it the Government’s policy to support the broadening of the embargo?

Thirdly, local responders have played a crucial role from the outset, providing vital aid to trapped populations on the front lines of the conflict. Organised into neighbourhood-based mutual aid groups, they have established communal kitchens, collective shelters and distribution of medication and clinics, and organised evacuation for vulnerable groups. In Khartoum state for example, over 350 communal kitchens have been established, assisting 500,000 families with at least one meal a day. In Zamzam camp, local responders are one of the only lifelines, as armed groups continue to besiege the area and prevent aid from reaching people. The resilience of the local responders underscores the urgent need for increased support from the international community. I hope the Minister can tell the House what the UK is doing to support these locally led humanitarian efforts.

Fourthly, the treatment of women and children in Sudan reflects patterns seen in other global conflicts. I welcome the Government’s plan to host an event on conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. I am heartened that the initiative co-founded by the noble Lord, Lord Hague, and Angelina Jolie has survived all the political upheavals since 2012, and that the new Government are committed to it is particularly encouraging. The noble Lord rightly asked last year, when he was on these Benches, what steps the Government were taking to support survivors of sexual violence in Sudan—and in particular, in his words,

“to support evidence gathering by specialists to make sure that the accountability that is so necessary is maintained”.—[Official Report, 26/4/23; col. 1260.]

Could he tell the House whether the Government are actively pursuing this accountability, and what action has been taken since July?

I know we are far from this moment. Any peace process must be truly inclusive, as others have pointed out, and women must not be an afterthought but at the centre of any negotiations. Sudanese women played a pivotal role in the 2019 protests that led to the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir and demonstrated their potential for driving meaningful change in the 2021 coup. Their voices must be heard in peace negotiations.

Gender-based violence is a global epidemic, affecting one in three women worldwide, and is exacerbated in conflict zones. This violence limits women’s participation in politics, education and the economy, ultimately stifling a nation’s future. Yet, in 2022, only 0.2% of global aid addressed gender-based violence. We need to not only discuss but act decisively on this issue. I welcome the Government’s commitment to appointing a Prime Minister’s special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. I also hope that the Foreign Secretary himself will personally support this initiative. The biggest impact that we have had in the years of PSVI was due to the fact that the then Foreign Secretary William Hague used almost every meeting with his counterparts to raise the issue, whenever and wherever it was relevant.

I have proposed and been campaigning for the establishment of a permanent international commission to investigate these crimes, hold perpetrators accountable and deliver justice for survivors, not because the UN Special Representative’s office is not willing to undertake this but because it is often restrained and frustrated by its own bureaucracy and the competing priorities of the member states. Such a commission could assist in gathering forensic evidence, preserving it and supporting various judicial mechanisms, including domestic courts and international tribunals. The Core International Crimes Evidence Database for Ukraine provides a useful model for a similar commission focused on conflict-related sexual violence. I hope that the Government will look at this proposal and see whether they can adopt a policy of allocating at least 2% of international aid specifically for addressing gender-based violence, focusing on both consequences and prevention, and I welcome any update that the Minister can give in this regard.

Sudan stands as a test case for increased accountability and funding for gender-based violence, giving greater support to locally led humanitarian efforts and the equal inclusion of women in peace negotiations—but it is also a test of our common humanity. I urge the Government to make their response to the crisis in Sudan an example of new levels of action and commitment on all these fronts.