Armed Conflict: Children
Debate between Sarah Smith and Graham Stringer(4 days, 10 hours ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. Does she agree that children are often used as tools, and even child soldiers, in many areas of conflict? In Sudan, for example, the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese armed forces has affected more than 10 million children, 200 of whom have been raped. Wherever possible, we must hold Governments to account, whether in India—where children are being deliberately targeted in Kashmir—Yemen, Sudan or Gaza. We cannot allow these situations, where children are the biggest sufferers, to go on. In my constituency, I see many young men from Afghanistan with mental health issues who are here seeking asylum or as refugees. We must give them the help that they deserve and need.
Graham Stringer (in the Chair)
Order. I remind Members that the time for this debate is tight, so interventions should be short and to the point.
Sarah Smith
Unfortunately, the official numbers no doubt do not represent the full situation yet it is devastating to hear what my hon. Friend says. His intervention also points to a broader challenge, although it is not part of this debate, about the need for the international or global human rights order at the current time, and the importance of organisations such as the International Criminal Court and the UN in upholding that order and campaigning on these critical issues.
What matters now is whether we act on what the research from the UN’s children and armed conflict agenda makes unmistakably clear. Childhoods are being destroyed and places of learning, safety and sanctuary are being decimated. We need to uphold international law and be a country that is promoting peace.
It is welcome that Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing is gradually being reopened. According to local hospitals and the World Health Organisation, about 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians are waiting to leave Gaza for treatment. Can the Minister inform parliamentarians what discussions have taken place with the Israeli Government on the process for the evacuation of all severely sick children now that the Rafah crossing is beginning to open? Does that allow for humanitarian and medical specialists, UN agencies and civil society organisations to gain access to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to support the unobstructed monitoring and reporting of grave violations against children?