South Sudan

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Curry, for securing this debate on this very important subject. It is important because it brings starkly to our attention the push factors that contribute to the numbers of people fleeing the most appalling conditions of human suffering, suffering that is all too often manmade, as typified here in South Sudan, and as articulated so forcefully by many noble Lords, as well as the right reverend Prelate, in their contributions to this debate.

The pattern is a familiar one when Africa’s big men turn their firepower on each other. So started this civil war in South Sudan, as President Kiir went to war with his deputy, Riek Machar. Civilian populations, especially women and children, bear the brunt of the violence, and sex is all too often used as a weapon of war, with devastating effect. Several noble Lords, including the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, and the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, have given us graphic details.

Research from Save the Children tells us that the main killer of children in conflict zones is inadequate access to healthcare and malnutrition, which kills 20 times more children than the violence of the conflict itself. Across South Sudan, children continue to die of treatable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. One solution is to shift more resources to low-cost community health delivery. Are the Government pushing this agenda with NGOs and the South Sudanese Government, where it is safe for them to do so? Is this a focus of their work with local civil society and faith groups working at grass-roots level?

Those who have survived the brutal conflict in the world’s newest nation flee to borders with or within neighbouring countries. Bidi Bidi in Uganda, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, is one such camp. It is now the largest refugee settlement in the world, covering an area of 100 square miles. Uganda has been noted as a generous host, housing 1.4 million people in 14 camps. Those granted refugee status are given plots of land to cultivate and allowed to settle and integrate with local communities and schools. Bidi Bidi has a makeshift theatre with a talent show and a shelter for women and girls which provides counselling. Those are just some of the features that typify the humane treatment of refugees there.

This enviable record of humanitarian outreach to refugees contrasts starkly with the treatment of refugees who have made their way to our shores—or not, as the case may be. At last week’s EU Council meeting, we saw the pressure that this mass movement of people—the largest since the Second World War—is bringing to bear in the West, with the media focused on whether it will or will not bring the German Chancellor down. Currently, it looks as though Angela Merkel will survive but, in the eyes of many, our contortions in the West dealing with people desperate to escape murder, rape and starvation, does not reflect well on us. Although Uganda’s refugee policy is considered exemplary worldwide, the country is reaching its limits.

Will our vision and leadership on this most momentous issue of our time include a concerted effort massively to increase support to refugee camps such as those in Uganda? This is surely a much better use of scarce resources than building walls of dubious benefit or fanciful disembarkation platforms. It would also have the added benefit of keeping people close to their former home. I do not want to live in a petrified fortress Europe, I want to live on planet earth.

The KPMG report, South Sudan Economic Snapshot H2 2017, paints a picture of an economy with significant unrealised potential, not least in agriculture. Of its 90% vast arable lands, 50% is considered to be prime agricultural land, yet only 4% is currently under cultivation. We know of South Sudan’s vast oil reserves, but research carried out in more peaceful times indicates rich mineral deposits, as well as gas. In April 2016, South Sudan joined the East African Community, opening up a massive regional market and, with it, hopes of export corridors to the south through Kenya. The peace dividend is potentially great, particularly if, as the noble Lord, Lord Curry, said, the talent of the youth of South Sudan is harnessed.

For what it is worth, the troika released its statement last Friday on the success of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s efforts to drive forward the South Sudan peace process, culminating in the Khartoum declaration of agreement between President Kiir and Dr Riek Machar. Whether the ceasefire demanded will go the way of others remains to be seen. It has certainly got off to a shaky start. However, I welcome its rejection of self-monitoring as well as the statement of intent by the international community to stand ready to support action by IGAD and the African Union to put an end to allowing individuals to act with impunity. Given that, I seek the Minister’s assurance that Her Majesty’s Government will continue to give this agenda their full and wholehearted support and that nothing will dilute our commitment to hold to account those responsible for human rights abuses.

It is only through transparency and accountability that we can ensure that new streams of revenue will directly benefit the South Sudanese people and enable them to rebuild and create a framework of institutions that will allow peace and stability to return. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Curry, that we should call time on recent practices when government revenues have either been siphoned off into rearmament to fuel more conflict or squirrelled away into tax havens.