South Sudan

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 1st December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

This really matters, and it is good that there is regional leadership to help try to improve the situation. There is no lasting answer to this that does not involve regional and national leadership, which is why we are insistent that the humanitarian and peacekeeping work goes alongside the work on democracy and inclusivity that will, in the end, be what makes the peace in South Sudan. We need a full return to the power-sharing agreement to make sure that the situation can be improved, because in the end, it is the people of South Sudan who suffer the worst of this.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that if we really want to help people in places such as South Sudan escape horrendous conflict and suffering, we need to do something about the runaway arms trade, in which arms are sold to friendly countries and then go on to other countries for crude economic gain? For example, India—the land of Mahatma Gandhi—sells arms to Russia; Russia, in turn, sells arms to Pakistan, again with the possibility of conflict.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We have a very strict regime about arms sales, which includes measures that prevent and rule against diversion. We also keep these things incredibly closely monitored. Noble Lords will know that there is a UN embargo in respect of South Sudan, which we support. I commit to noble Lords that we will continue to work to make sure that our regime is as tightly managed and robust as it can be.