Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the preliminary ceasefire agreed in South Sudan on 11 July continues to hold; what steps they are taking to ensure that those displaced by the violence in South Sudan receive humanitarian protection and that the existing infrastructure in place at the Tomping base of the UN Mission in South Sudan is adequate; and what representations they have made to both the first Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir to encourage constructive political dialogue.

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), issued a statement on 14 July calling on President Kiir and First Vice-President Machar to ensure their troops abide by the ceasefire and refrain from further violence. We are now working with our regional partners to support this. At the UN Security Council we continue to make clear that the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) needs to be strengthened and an arms embargo and targeted sanctions should be applied.

The UK’s humanitarian partners are providing water, food and health services to those affected by the recent fighting in Juba. Our humanitarian programme continues to deliver assistance across South Sudan to support the 1.6 million internally displaced people. We are also working to ensure that UNMISS has the equipment and unrestricted access it needs to fulfil its mandated task of providing a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.