Sudan

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I reassure the noble Lord of the importance of Taqaddum and the engagement with civil society in Sudan. I not only met His Excellency Mr Hamdok yesterday but saw him at the FT Africa conference today. I will continue to engage with Taqaddum. We have been a constant supporter of the group, as it is very important. When I met His Excellency, we stressed the importance of inclusive engagement, so that everyone in Sudan feels involved.

On the situation in Darfur and the UN resolution, as the noble Lord understands we tend not to move resolutions that we cannot garner support for. What I do not want to do is to move the clock back. By working with the Human Rights Council, we managed to ensure that the fact-finding mission had its remit extended, and we increased the number of people supporting that Motion. We will take all diplomatic steps. I hope that when we take the presidency of the Security Council, which I will attend, we will ensure that the focus to which the noble Lord is drawing the House’s attention will be included.

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, I fully agree with the noble Lords, Lord Purvis and Lord Alton. The independent commission reported yesterday with a devastating litany of human rights abuses, from indiscriminate bombardment to sexual violence and the starvation and displacement of civilians. I fully agree with the Minister that we do not want to start something that we cannot finish, but will he take another look at the recommendations that the arms embargo under the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction should go beyond Darfur and that there should be a no-fly zone? I know that this is difficult, but the situation in Sudan is absolutely desperate and we must do everything we can to try to lessen the suffering of those affected.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I completely understand and sympathise with the noble Baroness and her arguments, but, as she knows, we need to ensure that, whatever we do, we can win support for it and make it effective. In the meantime, we are not holding back; we are working with our allies to look at other opportunities, such as possible future sanctions. For every issue in the Secretary-General’s statement on the protection of civilians, particularly women and girls, we will hold those people to account. I reassure the noble Baroness that we are definitely working on this, but I do not wish to mislead the House, because, at the end of the day, if you push a resolution and lose it, you could turn the clock back further. We do not want to be in a worse position. We are absolutely determined, because there are players and actors in the world who are currently taking advantage of extending this conflict rather than ending it.