Sudan

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian situation in Darfur and other parts of the Republic of Sudan following the decision of the Government of Sudan to suspend the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

[Baroness Northover (LD)]

Around 3.5 million people in Darfur are in need of humanitarian assistance, including around 380,000 people who were displaced in 2013. The suspension of the ICRC’s work therefore comes at a critical time, as it supports more than a million people. We are seriously concerned about the impact of this decision on them.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. Will she confirm that in the 10 years that have elapsed since I described to your Lordships’ House the conditions in the refugee camps in Darfur, some 2 million people have been displaced and between 200,000 and 300,000 people have died there? Some 57 peacekeepers and UNAMID personnel have been murdered, with no consequences for those responsible, while humanitarian agencies are expelled and aerial bombardment continues unabated, both in Darfur and in Kordofan. Why, while these serial violations occur, do we use British resources to pay off Sudan’s debts? Why, as we approach the fifth anniversary of the indictment for crimes against humanity of Field Marshal Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, can he travel abroad with impunity and continue to control vast personal and commercial interests while openly boasting that 2014 will be the year that he will finish off what he began in Darfur 10 years ago?

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[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Lord for the spotlight that he has focused on the situation in Sudan. He is right about the dire situation of many of the people there. We have no doubt about the serious shortcomings of the Khartoum Government. The UK Government’s primary and only concern is the welfare of the Sudanese people. Our engagement and support is driven by what will make a difference to them. We cannot walk away and we work at every level to try to secure the kind of humanitarian access that is required, as illustrated by what the noble Lord said. We are not paying off the debt of the Sudanese Government.

[Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Lab)]

My Lords, President al-Bashir has been indicted by the ICC for multiple charges of crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, yet this cruel and vicious man is free to enjoy power and wealth while his regime’s oppression, corruption and aerial bombardments continue. Will the Minister give the House a clear undertaking that the UK will not follow the lead of the Netherlands and support calls being made for debt relief for a regime that does not care about the poverty and misery inflicted on Sudanese people?

[Baroness Northover]

We emphasise all the time that the Government of Sudan are responsible for meeting the needs of their own people. My right honourable friend the Minister for Africa raised a number of key issues relating to the areas the noble Baroness is talking about with the Government of Sudan and key regional figures in a visit last month and at the recent AU summit.

[Lord Avebury (LD)]

My Lords, will my noble friend acknowledge that the Government of Sudan, led by an alleged war criminal, as has been said, has embarked on the genocidal starvation of the population of South Kordofan and Blue Nile by denying all humanitarian access to these states, and by the systematic destruction from the air of their agriculture? Could fresh charges be laid against al-Bashir at the International Criminal Court in respect of these crimes? Will the Government think of convening an international conference on the means of deterring the bombings, including the use of drones against aircraft used for that purpose?

[Baroness Northover]

As indicated by the previous question, the Government of Sudan have a clear obligation to co-operate with the International Criminal Court in terms of Security Council Resolution 1593 and have repeatedly failed to do so. We continue to make clear to the Government of Sudan that we expect compliance with the arrest warrants for the ICC indictees. The noble Lord mentioned further challenges and a possible new Security Council resolution. I must tell him that we think it is unlikely that that will be achievable at the moment, but obviously we take very seriously the reports that are coming through to us.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Government refuse to be part—directly or indirectly —of any debt relief operation?

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[Baroness Northover]

We are not negotiating any debt relief with the Government of Sudan. As the noble Lord probably knows, that has to be achieved through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries process.

[Lord Elton (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend tell us why it is unlikely that a second resolution could be achieved, what we are doing to change that situation and what other means there are to bring this terrible man to justice?

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, if we could deliver what is already there, that would be a signal achievement, and we are doing our best to achieve that. The noble Lord will be aware that the aim to ensure that the dire situation of those in Sudan is addressed means that often one has to negotiate at every level of government to try to ensure that Sudan does not hold its people to ransom as we try to get humanitarian aid in.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, have other aid organisations also been banned? It is most extraordinary that the Red Cross has been banned as it is a non-religious, non-political organisation.

[Baroness Northover]

We are hoping that the ICRC will be able to deliver the humanitarian relief that it was delivering before. Negotiations are at a delicate stage. A number of other international organisations are working with enormous difficulty in the area, some with greater reach than others. Some are still there, but a number have had to pull back.