South Sudan

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Curry, on securing a very timely debate. Last Wednesday, as he described, yet another ceasefire agreement was declared in a country that has suffered five years of conflict, devastating the lives of ordinary people. The country is poverty-stricken, despite having vast oil reserves.

The words of South Sudanese Member of Parliament Martha Martin Dar are much in my thoughts. She and I were delegates at the Women Political Leaders Summit in Lithuania last month. Martha described the war as a man-made political battle for power and wealth—a war that uses sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon. She is exasperated by those who sell arms to both sides and prolong the ability of the Government and so many groups to terrorise the civilian population. She hopes that the international community will continue to work with South Sudan to build a safer country and so do I. I hope that the UK will continue its policy of commitment to the peace process, defence of civilians and humanitarian aid. I shall focus briefly on those three issues.

The troika statement last week commended IGAD’s efforts to drive forward the peace process and took note of the Khartoum declaration between President Kiir, Dr Machar and other opposition parties. But, as the noble Lord, Lord Curry, said, we have seen this all before. Ceasefires have foundered because of ill will on both sides. It seemed at times that the ceasefires had been announced only to coincide with the start of the rainy season, when warfare becomes impossible in any event. That happened when I was in South Sudan last May. Part III of the UN Secretary-General’s report published just last week makes for chilling reading about the increased intensity of the conflict this year ahead of the arrival of the rainy season in the regions of Greater Upper Nile and Greater Equatoria. Is the Minister confident that this ceasefire will be meaningful? The troika stated last week that,

“all sides must stop fighting now”,

but, as the noble Lord, Lord Curry, said, they have broken the ceasefire already. What happens next?

While I was in South Sudan, I discussed the peace process with President Mogae, chair of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission of the peace agreement. He explained that work was being undertaken to introduce some rigour into the government treasury in South Sudan. At that stage, it seemed that those at the top of the Government used it as their own personal bank account. Can my noble friend the Minister say whether any progress has been made on that? I am concerned by the UN Secretary-General’s recent report, which says:

“Despite buoyant international oil prices, overall fiscal performance did not improve, raising concerns about the management of the additional oil revenue”.


I am not suggesting that we should give up the search for peace, but I wonder what else can be done to produce results. I note what the noble Lord, Lord Curry, said about his scepticism about the use of sanctions, but I saw the look in the eyes of somebody under UK sanctions when I was in a meeting with him when I was the sanctions Minister. I think they meant something to him. I am glad that I was not left in the room alone with him, I can tell you. Can the Minister tell us what the Government’s current assessment is of the sanctions regime and about recent discussions on extending sanctions on targeted individuals?

The troika also stated last week that the ceasefire must allow the return of South Sudan’s refugees and displaced people and must lead to improved security for communities and an end to the horrendous abuses endured by civilians at the hands of the security forces of both sides, who have razed villages to the ground and committed the widespread rape of men, women and children—including babies. What do we plan to do to encourage the combatants to comply, despite the fighting of this week? What are our plans for our own protection of civilians and how do we intend to move forward with that?

Last year, I flew north to Malakal in Unity state and visited the UNMISS protection of civilians camp, where 35,000 people have taken refuge after fleeing from what used to be the second city of South Sudan. I met UK troops there who had recently joined the UNMISS contingent and whose professionalism had already won respect. I was therefore delighted to hear last week that they had been presented with UN medals of honour for their commitment and service to the people of South Sudan. We can indeed be proud of them.

Turning to the question of humanitarian aid, there is clearly, as the noble Lord, Lord Curry, has said, a great need across the country for such aid. Tens of thousands have been killed and 4.2 million people—a third of the population—have been forced to flee their homes. At the moment, aid organisations forecast that, this year, 1.1 million children under the age of five will suffer from malnourishment, with nearly 300,000 suffering severe malnutrition, probably resulting in death. Is the UK still the second-largest contributor to the humanitarian response? What is the Government’s assessment of the current position across South Sudan on, as the noble Lord, Lord Curry, mentioned, the matters of health, food and education? What is the current position regarding our own DfID-funded projects?

I wish every success and safety to Becks Buckingham, the DfID country director, and all those working at our embassy—I salute them. South Sudan remains one of the most dangerous operating environments in the world for humanitarian workers and for those who try to protect them. The troika stated last week that the ceasefire must allow the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance. What response has there been to that from the South Sudanese Government?

Overall, the resilience of the people there is astonishing. Despite the terrible hardships that they face, they continue to live with dignity and hope, but they need peace. Even my general disposition towards optimism was tested to the very limit by what I saw there. The recent ceasefire is still welcome, even if there have been problems this week, but the UK and the international community must make it crystal clear that we expect the combatants to do much more to ensure that the peace process is both inclusive and sincere. There really is no excuse for inaction.