Gaza and Lebanon

Sarah Champion Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the International Development Committee.

[Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)]

It feels a pathetic understatement to say that the situation in Gaza, particularly northern Gaza, grows ever more desperate and urgent—particularly as I have been saying that for a year. The UN says that it has not been allowed to deliver essential supplies, including food, since October. Last week, 15 UK and Irish humanitarian organisations warned that the UK is failing to uphold international law and that, without bold and immediate action from the UK, Palestinians in northern Gaza are facing an imminent existential threat. Please, Minister, give us more details on exactly what this Government are doing to make sure that the retired generals’ “surrender or starve” strategy is not being implemented. We need to do more than just debate in this Chamber.

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her remarks, and congratulate her on her leadership of the International Development Committee. This Government have shown that we are absolutely determined to play our part with UK leadership on these issues, which are of such desperate concern to our constituents and, of course, to the whole world. That has meant there has been serious engagement at every level, including in the first days of the new Government coming into office. There has been engagement at the highest level from the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and me—right across Government—with our counterparts, whether they be the Palestinian Authority, the Lebanese Government, the Israeli Government, other regional actors or the US. More broadly, we are determined to ensure that the cease- fires that are so desperately needed are put into place and that we play our part in facing up to the humanitarian crisis that we see unfolding.

Sudan

Sarah Champion Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for raising those important points. On the UK’s support, we have doubled the official development assistance contribution, recognising the severity of this crisis. I announced another £50 million of vital assistance on 22 August, bringing that up to £97 million, which will be focused on where it is possible to operate in Sudan. Much of the country is very difficult to access, including for humanitarian bodies and for those fleeing to South Sudan and Chad.

The hon. Member talked about neighbouring countries. There are a number of countries that we would urge not to engage in destabilising activity; I mentioned that point to the shadow Development Minister. Any activity that is not focused on humanitarian support or promoting peace is prolonging the war, worsening the humanitarian situation and creating a legacy for the future that will be difficult to deal with. We are seeing large numbers of unaccompanied children, for example—a really disturbing situation. We want that message to be heard loud and clear.

[Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)]

I wish that this conflict and the resulting famine had been stopped before they started. I am grateful for the Minister’s commitment. When the International Development Committee took evidence in April, we found that this was a war on women. Could the Minister please tell us what specifically she is doing to protect women from the horrendous rapes and sexual abuse that are going on, and what she is doing with the Department to gather atrocity prevention data?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning this area, in which she has great expertise. We are deeply concerned about the escalation of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023. As she and others in the House will be well aware, there are reports of this issue; for example, 262 rape cases were reported from April to August. That is likely to be a massive underestimate of the situation on the ground.

Disturbingly, women and girls are subject to sexual violence in internally displaced person camps; at checkpoints when travelling; in their own homes; and when trying to get firewood or desperately trying to get support for their family. There are also reports of kidnapping, ransom and sexual exploitation. My hon. Friend asked what the UK is doing. We continue to condemn those atrocities against women and girls. We have called out human rights violations, especially conflict-related sexual violence carried out by the parties to the conflict, within the UN Human Rights Council and Security Council, and we are working to ensure that evidence is collected.