Sudan

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Wednesday 5th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I am well aware of the situation. A member of my family was working at a food station in South Sudan and saw children dying in front of her, so I am very well aware of what is going on. Apparently some 400,000 people have been displaced from South Kordofan and Blue Nile, some from Blue Nile into South Sudan and some into Ethiopia. It is very difficult to get NGOs into Blue Nile or to get food into Blue Nile. Various agencies—some governmental, some non-governmental and some international—are doing their best. The Government of Sudan have protested that there are cross-border efforts to provide food into the region. This is not an easy situation; we are doing all that we can.

[Lord Chidgey]

Given his earlier remarks, is the Minister aware that Edward Luck and Francis Deng, the UN advisers on genocide prevention, have highlighted the grave concerns about the air attacks made by the Sudanese air force on civilians? Is he also aware that the International Crisis Group reports that conflict in the Blue Nile region could well trigger a renewed civil war—a war in which everyone would be losers, but most particularly the Sudanese people? Given the failure of the international community to resolve these conflict issues in the CPA, does not the United Kingdom have a particular responsibility to take the initiative and mobilise international political intervention as a matter of extreme urgency?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, perhaps I should say that China has a particular responsibility in trying to improve relations between Sudan and South Sudan. Oil has been part of the cause of the long conflict—60 per cent of Sudanese oil is exported to China. We need the assistance of the Chinese in bringing pressure to bear on Khartoum to stop using its forces for what to some looks very much like ethnic conflict, but which is certainly an attempt to impose order on these border regions without consideration for local conflicts and to override local wishes and local governments.