Jim Shannon
Main Page: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)Department Debates - View all Jim Shannon's debates with the Department for International Development
(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Anneliese Dodds
My hon. Friend raises an important point. As I mentioned, we have already seen in South Sudan and other neighbouring countries extreme humanitarian need. Clearly, the conflict in Sudan is making the situation even worse in many of those nations. I am grateful to those nations that have opened their borders so that those fleeing conflict are able to move out of the conflict situation, but clearly that is coming at significant cost in situations where there is already considerable humanitarian need. South Sudan, for example, already has the worst maternal mortality in the entire world. It has statistics that place it right at the bottom of the human development index of all countries. This is only making the situation worse, I regret to say.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister very much for her reassuring words about how to help those in Sudan, but given that some 10 million people are displaced there and 25 million are suffering from food insecurity, it is clear that a humanitarian crisis of gigantic proportions is unfolding. In particular—and here I declare an interest, as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief—9,000 Christians have been killed, 6 million Christians have been displaced, and 165 churches have been destroyed and closed. There have been human rights violations in the form of rape, kidnapping and looting. Sudan is the eighth worst place in the world to be a Christian. It is clear that much more must be done. May I ask the Minister, very respectfully, what steps she is taking to work with non-governmental organisations on the ground to get support to the people who need it the most: the vulnerable, the ill, women and children?
Anneliese Dodds
The hon. Gentleman is right, sadly, about the scale of the humanitarian disaster we see unfolding and about the human rights abuses. He mentioned religious minorities, and also the impact on women and girls, which was mentioned earlier. We are seeing an extremely disturbing situation in Sudan. We will continue to do all we can to raise the profile of this issue. The humanitarian situation in Sudan was a priority for me as soon as I became the new Development Minister—I was determined that I should be briefed on it. It is an enormous crisis, and we in the UK must do all we can to ensure that we play our part politically, diplomatically, economically and in humanitarian terms.