Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps with his international counterparts to provide security to humanitarian agencies in Sudan.
The UK condemns in the strongest terms attacks on aid workers in Sudan. The warring parties are required to uphold international humanitarian and human rights obligations and to implement relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), including UNSCR 2736 (2024) on El Fasher, Darfur. In our recent public statements, we have reiterated the importance of the warring parties acting in accordance with such commitments. In June, the UK signed a joint statement with 30 other donors condemning an attack on a UN aid convoy, calling for the warring parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
On 24 April, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement following renewed attacks in El Fasher, calling for the warring parties to give humanitarian actors the security guarantees needed to deliver aid rapidly and safely, including through a 72-hour pause in fighting. The UK is also providing financial support to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to enable their human rights monitoring and reporting. In October 2024, we led the renewal of the UN Fact Finding Mission for Sudan's mandate as part of the Sudan 'Core Group' in the Human Rights Council to hold those harming humanitarian agencies to account.