Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to persecuted Christians in Sudan.

We welcomed the progress made by the Sudanese transitional government from 2019 to 2021, which included decriminalising apostasy, declaring Christmas a national holiday and lifting public order laws that disproportionately affected Christian women. However, we are aware that these significant steps taken to improve religious freedom have stalled since 2021. In May this year, following the outbreak of conflict in April, we announced £21.7 million in humanitarian assistance for Sudan, part of a £143 million package of aid for East Africa. This includes support to protection activities for vulnerable people affected by the conflict. The UK continues to fund and support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that provides a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations.