Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the release of correspondence between the British embassy in Khartoum and the Sudan Unit in the FCO concerning the EU–Horn of African migration route initiative otherwise known as the Khartoum process (FOI 0733–16), whether they are concerned that the Sudanese regime will not allow access to UNAMID to monitor the implementation of the Khartoum Process; and what steps they are taking to ensure that humanitarian access is a prerequisite for further co-operation on migration.

Monitoring the implementation of the Khartoum Process does not fall under the mandate of the United Nations/African Union Hybrid Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The UK works closely with the current Chair (at present Ethiopia) and the Secretariat of the Khartoum Process Secretariat to maintain a map of current and proposed projects, and ensure effective coordination and monitoring. We continue to urge the government of Sudan to allow humanitarian access throughout Darfur and to enable UNAMID to carry out its core mandate to protect civilians.

We are clear that engagement with the government of Sudan on migration issues does not mean that we will compromise on our stance towards Sudan's internal conflicts, human rights or the humanitarian situation. Rather, engaging with them provides another channel to raise concerns directly and address their cause. Most recently, during a visit to Khartoum in January the Permanent Under-Secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon McDonald, and the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development, Mark Lowcock, stressed the importance of tackling irregular migration in a way that was compliant with human rights.