Stephen Gethins
Main Page: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)Department Debates - View all Stephen Gethins's debates with the Department for International Development
(3 days, 22 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Anneliese Dodds
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that incredibly important point. We have indeed, as she eloquently spelled out, seen a really disturbing increase in human rights abuses in Sudan. There has been an escalation of violence, with many civilians killed, sexual assaults on women—as we talked about—and the restriction of humanitarian and journalistic access. The UK will ensure that there is continued scrutiny of Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council. The UK is the leader of the core group, alongside Germany, Norway and the United States. We have been seeking to use that position as actively as possible to raise this issue. Colleagues should also be aware that the UK is funding the Centre for Information Resilience, a research body that is gathering open-source evidence about the ongoing fighting. That is incredibly important for the long-term accountability of those who are abusing human rights so appallingly in Sudan.
Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for providing time for this issue today. I also thank the Minister. This is the gravest humanitarian situation on Earth and I am grateful for her remarks about evidence gathering on universal crimes. However, I am a little concerned that I am yet to hear what concrete actions are being taken to enforce an arms embargo and stop arms from reaching the conflict zones.
Anneliese Dodds
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being very clear about the magnitude of this appalling conflict and the need to do all we can to prevent it. The UK Government have sought to use every lever we can to put pressure in this area, whether political, diplomatic or humanitarian, and to use every venue we can. To be very clear, I reiterate that the warring parties and those supporting them to become engaged in the conflict must cease their actions, which are having such a negative impact on the population. For those who are engaged to the extent that this is becoming a proxy situation, every single day they do that they are contributing to the humanitarian crisis. The UK could not be clearer in our language.