My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to have an in-depth debate about the crisis in Sudan, one of the most pressing humanitarian emergencies of our time. It is clear from their presence here today that noble Lords share my concerns over the gravity of the situation. The world is not paying enough attention, and we must keep it in the spotlight in order to galvanise further international action and support.
This brutal conflict, primarily between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, has had devastating consequences for civilians. What began as a power struggle between military factions has escalated into a protracted war and a humanitarian catastrophe. This conflict is not merely a continuation of the country’s troubled history; it is a profound crisis with implications for the entire region. The immediate cause can be traced back to the breakdown of a fragile power-sharing agreement between the military and civilian leaders. The failure of that agreement plunged the country into chaos, undoing much of the progress made since the revolution.
The scale of this crisis is staggering. Sudan is facing a manmade famine and one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes, and recent widespread flooding has pushed the country to the brink, devastating an extremely fragile ecosystem. The UN estimates that more than 24 million people—about half the Sudanese population—need humanitarian assistance, sadly a figure that continues to grow as the conflict drags on.
But the impact is not limited to the displaced population. The conflict has severely disrupted agricultural production and supply chains, leading to soaring food prices and widespread hunger. More than 9 million people face emergency or famine levels of food insecurity. The destruction of healthcare facilities and the shortage of medical supplies have left the population vulnerable to disease outbreaks, with little or no access to treatment.
My right honourable friend the Minister for Development visited South Sudan recently. It was one of her first visits since being appointed, and her first Africa visit. There, she met people who had fled Sudan only to arrive in a country facing its own humanitarian emergency. She witnessed the most appalling scenes of suffering and devastation. The stories she heard of families torn apart, children on the brink of starvation and communities destroyed by violence demonstrate the terrible human cost of this conflict.
In response to this crisis, the UK has significantly increased its humanitarian support to Sudan. This year we have almost doubled UK official development assistance for Sudan to £97 million, the majority of which is vital humanitarian assistance. This is funding critical services including nutritious food, safe drinking water, medical care and shelter, offering a lifeline to millions of Sudanese in desperate circumstances. The UK has also been proactive in supporting refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries. In August we announced an additional £15 million in funding to address the devasting impact of this regional crisis across Sudan, South Sudan and Chad.
My Lords, the Minister has set out very clearly the challenges that are faced by every single person in Sudan. Indeed, the conflict has persisted for over a year and has escalated into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
I welcome the statement the Minister made just a moment ago that there will shortly be an announcement about the appointment of a UK special envoy to Sudan. The All-Party Group for Sudan and South Sudan, of which I am one of the vice-chairs, has long called for that, and I congratulate the Government on doing it.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of opening a short debate about the impact of the conflict on children in Sudan. Today, I will pick up on some of the themes that the Minister has rightly mentioned with regard to the challenges of securing peace in the short and long term, and the need for humanitarian support. As the Foreign Secretary said on 2 August:
“Aid must be allowed to reach those in need. Starvation must not be used as a method of warfare”.
As the UK is the penholder on Sudan at the UN in New York and Geneva, can the Minister give us a little more detail today about the steps being taken by the UK to prevent further casualties and secure a ceasefire? He has given us some information, but I think we can go further just to find out what future debates are going to be called for at the UNSC and in Geneva at the Human Rights Council.
In opening, the Minister welcomed the agreement reached by the ALPS Group talks in Switzerland last month that the Adre border crossing would be open to humanitarian aid convoys. I understand that the RSF sent a delegation but the Sudanese Government did not, despite invitations and indeed extensive international pressure. One of the official reasons given by the Sudanese Government was their strong opposition to the fact that the UAE was going to be included in the talks, because they believe the reports that the UAE is providing military support to the RSF. Can the Minister say whether the UK Government believe that the UAE’s support is indeed being given to the RSF?
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, because she always brings such authority to a debate.
I too thank the Minister for initiating this important debate and congratulate him on his comprehensive and powerful speech. It is very welcome that we are having this debate today; a debate in government time is long overdue. As the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, said, this sometimes feels like the forgotten war, yet it is so far from forgotten for the millions of displaced, sick and starving of Sudan. It is stark to see quite how little coverage of the war there is, as the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, said, compared to the coverage of what is happening in the Middle East or Ukraine.
I worked on a project in Sudan from 2022 to 2023— I refer noble Lords to my register of interests. Indeed, my last visit to Khartoum was in April 2023 with my noble friend Lord Purvis, just one week before this awful civil war started. By the time we left Khartoum, the roads were all closed, the pro-democracy campaigners were facing the Sudanese Armed Forces on the streets, and the air was thick with tear gas. Then, just one week later, on 15 April, the full-blown civil war started.
It is the most cynical of wars. It is not a war about ideals or ideology but about personal wealth, power, influence and access to natural resources—and all at the terrible expense of ordinary people, especially women and children, who now face starvation on a catastrophic scale. It is estimated that 37% of the population faces severe food insecurity. It is a war that, in many ways, has become a proxy war for current geopolitical tensions. During my visits to Khartoum, the Wagner Group was clearly visible in the streets of the capital, and at that time it was supporting the RSF. However, there is evidence that Russia is now cynically switching sides in its bid to maintain access to the Red Sea.
My Lords, I join the noble Baronesses, Lady Suttie and Lady Anelay, in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for the way in which he introduced today’s important debate. He has a long-standing commitment to the people of Africa, and he will bring humanity and expertise to the many challenges that he will face as Minister for Africa—the most urgent of which is the catastrophic war in Sudan.
On Wednesday, the Minister attended part of a two-hour briefing which I chaired on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sudan and South Sudan. I pay tribute to the outgoing chair, Vicky Ford, and the incoming chair, of whom I have great expectations; Rachael Maskell, the MP for York, is a wonderful Member of Parliament, and I know that she will follow well in the footsteps of Vicky Ford. During that meeting, we heard harrowing contributions from Geraldine O’Callaghan of the World Food Programme, Sibongani Kayola of Mercy Corps, Will Carter of the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Sudanese women’s shuttle diplomacy initiative.
Along with the mass displacement of what is now approaching 11 million internally displaced people—adding to the 120 million people worldwide who are displaced—we learned that
“famine is no longer a threat. It is a reality”.
We heard that people are dying of hunger; that skeletal children are some of the nine out of 10 who are suffering from some form of malnutrition, with 14 million children in need of humanitarian support; that 16 humanitarian aid workers have been killed in Sudan this year; and that ever-present dangers have compromised the delivery of aid to starving people. We heard that food is being used as a weapon of war.
A Sudanese lady doctor told us that 95% of hospitals and clinics are closed; that disease, including cholera and dengue, is raging; and that 19 million children are out of school and education, and, inevitably, are likely to be used in human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, or as child soldiers. We heard that those responsible for atrocity crimes have acted with utter disregard for the suffering that they are inflicting on their own people, and that impunity and the failure to bring to account those responsible for the genocide of 2004 have sown the seeds for a war which, because of other competing global priorities, fails to make the media’s small print, let alone the headlines.
10:44 am
The Lord Bishop of Leeds
My Lords, it is always a daunting honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and the previous speakers. Like them, I have some considerable experience of Sudan, having been there a number of times and had dealings not just at the political level but on the ground, among very real and ordinary communities. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for securing this debate.
Behind the statistics, there are human beings and stories; 25 million people going hungry could be just a number until you look individuals in the eye. Dig a little deeper and the whole situation in Sudan is much more complicated than simply two generals having a scrap. What we can say with confidence is this: military violence, including the bombing of children, women and ordinary civilians, is appalling. It is often indiscriminate, especially when unleashed by the RSF in what increasingly looks like deliberate and intentional genocide in parts of Sudan. A humanitarian catastrophe has exploded in plain sight of the world and its Governments, with food shortages; the closing down of access for humanitarian aid from neighbouring countries; famine; malnutrition; and a generation of children who are being starved, made homeless and given no medical care or education.
As the director of the World Food Programme told us at the APPG, as was referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Alton:
“Avoidable famine is no longer a threat—it is a reality now”.
Future harvests are now in serious doubt. What will the consequences of that be? Do not be surprised if masses of Sudanese seek refuge through irregular immigration in this and other countries if the UK seeks to address the current crisis without addressing the consequent implications for a destabilised region: the wider corruption of civil society in Sudan and neighbouring countries; challenges in establishing future legitimate government with civil society engagement in a now-destroyed nation; and, one day, the challenge of reconstruction.
It is evident that elements associated with the RSF are seeking to kill Sudanese history, culture and identity in order to replace it with a different narrative, although there is not time to explain what I am referring to here. There are no simple or simply achievable solutions. We cannot urge action in this place to salve our consciences if our messaging, however well intentioned and humane, does not change anything on the ground for those both with and without power.
Against government advice but with deep respect to the then Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad—he has been completely supportive and honourable in my engagement with Sudan; I note that the consul from the Sudanese embassy is present in the Chamber for this morning’s debate—I visited Port Sudan in June with a colleague, the Bishop of Bradford. The diocese of Leeds has nearly half a century of strong relationships with the Episcopal Church in Sudan. Like the Church of England here, the Church in Sudan exists not for its own sake but for the sake of the people of Sudan. Despite massive threat and displacement, the bishops and clergy have largely stayed in situ. The Archbishop of Sudan, Ezekiel Kondo, saw everything in Khartoum destroyed by the RSF and escaped only with his life and the clothes he stood up in. Now based in Port Sudan, he runs the province from a small desk in the corner of his bedroom in a tiny, basic rented house.
My Lords, this is my first opportunity to publicly congratulate my noble friend the Minister on his ministerial role. I know well from my own experience the impact that British development and foreign policy can have on countries on the African continent. That is why I am so pleased to participate in today’s debate. It is a privilege to be with so many noble Lords with expertise, knowledge and love of Sudan.
I echo the Minister’s remarks about the importance of shining a spotlight on what is happening in that country. In preparing for today’s debate, I realised that for over 20 years I have been working on issues in Sudan, either as a Minister, at the UN or as a member of a number of organisations in which I have declared my interest in the register. I have visited Sudan, and indeed South Sudan, on many occasions. While at the United Nations, I was cleared, even while the then President al-Bashir was sanctioned, to have meetings with him to seek ways to facilitate humanitarian access. I also visited refugee and displacement camps in Darfur. The noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, spoke very powerfully about the situation there at that time. I also visited UN and AU peacekeeping missions in the country.
The situation in Sudan is a major political and humanitarian crisis. It is the world’s largest internal displacement crisis. My noble friend the Minister talked about the 10 million figure. There are 2 million refugees, 150,000 people are dead in the current phase of the conflict and 26 million people out of the population of 47 million are facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity. We have already heard about the impact of famine in some areas.
The only answer is to find a political solution. The humanitarian situation we can make better—we can put a plaster on the things that are happening—but the long-term solution has got to be to find a political solution. The violence has to stop. While diplomatic engagement has continued, the talks to date have yielded little by way of a ceasefire. Although there has been some opening-up of humanitarian access, there is still a long way to go; my noble friend the Minister referenced some of that. There are clearly no quick solutions. Forcing the parties to the table has clearly failed so far. I see no tangible benefits yet in terms of stopping the fighting. Tensions remain high in North Darfur’s Al-Fashir region, amid reports that the RSF is mobilising its forces to intensify hostilities. There has been severe flooding across the country that has exacerbated the humanitarian situation, a surge in disease outbreaks, including cholera, a health system that has totally collapsed and the looting of many of whatever supplies there are.
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins, the Minister, for tabling this important debate. As I stand to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, I speak perhaps both for her and me, as we feel very much part—as I joked with my noble friend Lord Hunt—of a spiritual sandwich, following soon after the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds and awaiting the contribution from the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury. That shows the rich diversity, insight and experience of your Lordships’ House on this vital issue.
I seek your Lordships’ indulgence, for a moment or two, in extending for the first time in the Chamber my sincere congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Collins, on his appointment as Minister for Africa. He has served this House incredibly well. I should know; in the last seven years, I often spent more time with him than with my family, in exchanges and debates at the Dispatch Box.
I share with noble Lords the importance of relationships within your Lordships’ House. There was one occasion that I am sure the noble Lord, Lord Alton, remembers all too well. I take your Lordships back to May 2019 and the case of Asia Bibi—a young lady escaping religious persecution. She was being persecuted simply for being a Christian. Many weeks—indeed, months—had gone into negotiations, with sensitive diplomacy across many countries. At a delicate point in the negotiations, I remember speaking repeatedly to the noble Lord, Lord Alton, over the weekend. As I came in on the Monday, I was alerted by my excellent private office that there was the risk of an Urgent Question being tabled by the other side by the then Leader of the Opposition.
My instant reaction was to immediately call the noble Lord, Lord Collins. I said to him, “Ray, I have an issue and I need to take you into my confidence”. I provided insight and context about what needed to happen. He did not waste a moment. He did what was needed and the Urgent Question was averted. I thank him for that; it is just one example of the many occasions that the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I worked together, as we regularly do with noble Lords across the House, in ensuring that wisdom, experience, insights—and, at times, wit—are fully taken into account as we look to provide real, practical solutions to the problems that face the world.
11:14 pm
The Archbishop of Canterbury
I too am grateful to the Minister for arranging this debate, in which we are hearing extraordinary expertise—with some exceptions. In particular, there are former Ministers for Africa. We have heard from the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, who has had an extraordinarily distinguished career, and I look forward to hearing the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham. The speech given by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, was truly remarkable.
It is noticeable in what we have heard so far that the history of Sudan has been very present to us. I echo the words we have heard more than once: that this is not simply a conflict between two major power groups seeking power in Sudan. It is based in the fragility of a society that has seen war more than it has seen peace since Sudan became independent—both in what is now South Sudan and in Sudan itself.
Sudan is already a human catastrophe on an extraordinary scale. It is using vast quantities of humanitarian aid and, as was said by the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, that leads only to the most temporary of solutions. In Sudan and elsewhere, crisis follows crisis, and countries like our own are caught between the equally atrocious options of sticking plasters or ignoring the crises. We often have warnings. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Leeds spoke about his visit in June to Khartoum and the extraordinary Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, with whom I spoke about a month before the war broke out. He said, “We sit in Khartoum with two armed groups looking at each other over the sights of their guns, and imminently, there is going to be trouble”. It was not a surprise.
In that context, I want to acknowledge and welcome the cross-party support, the very hard work of the FCDO, and the Minister’s clear speech. I start with one word of caution. The Minister rightly said that we must return to proper, democratic civilian rule, but as we have seen elsewhere, peace with an authoritarian Government is better than no peace at all. I hope that that is not so much of a red line that we will not work to establish the ceasefire and stability that will enable civilians to take over.
We cannot, and do not, abandon victims of war to famine. However, beyond the cause of humanitarian aid, there lie deeper questions for this debate. How can we anticipate such disasters, and what means are there to prevent them or cure them once they happen, whether in Sudan or elsewhere? I think especially of the DRC. How do we wage peace—be those to whom Jesus refers in the Beatitudes as blessed, and known as children of God?
The security and defence review, led by the noble Lord, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, presents an important and welcome opportunity to build a new pillar in the way we structure our defence and security operations. It was a pillar notably absent from the two integrated reviews, an issue I will come back to in a moment. A peacebuilding option, well developed and acting in areas of fragility, would extend our influence, protect our interests and, as has been said several times, guard against fresh waves of migration. I already hear anecdotally from within the diocese of Canterbury that I serve, and its south coast, that those meeting people landing in boats find that a very high proportion are coming from Sudan.
11:24 am
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The UK humanitarian response is complemented by extensive diplomatic engagement. In my first month I spoke with Ramtane Lamamra, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Sudan, and former Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdok. The message was clear: Sudan must move towards a peaceful and prosperous future, and the UK is committed to using all diplomatic levers to support this. A co-ordinated international response is critical to resolving the conflict. To this end, the United Kingdom welcomes the creation of the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan—ALPS—Group in Geneva and its efforts to strengthen humanitarian access, protect civilians and de-escalate immediately in Sudan. The United Kingdom stands ready to support all these efforts.
During my visit last month to New York for the United Nations Security Council, I discussed efforts to secure peace in Sudan, in particular with the Ugandan Foreign Minister and the US Permanent Representative to the UN. The United Kingdom continues to use its role as penholder on Sudan in the UN Security Council to call on all states to refrain from actions that will prolong the conflict. We will continue to call on those who have influence on the warring parties to use it to bring them to the negotiating table.
Of course, peace cannot just be imposed from the outside; it must be built from within. That is why we are working with civil society groups, including women’s organisations, to ensure that any political settlement reflects the aspirations of the Sudanese people. In addition to direct assistance, the United Kingdom has mobilised international support for Sudan, bringing attention to the crisis at the highest levels, including at the United Nations. When famine was declared in Sudan at the end of August, we immediately called a UN Security Council session to call on the warring parties to stop blocking humanitarian assistance. As our intervention noted during that session, more than 100 Sudanese civilians are dying from starvation every day. An announcement on the UK special representative for Sudan is imminent.
I stress that we are clear that this is an entirely manmade famine, and this appalling loss of life will continue until the warring factions put the Sudanese people before power. Put quite simply, using starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime. We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting of humanitarian workers and the destruction of their facilities. We welcome the decision to reopen the Adre crossing for humanitarian assistance at long last. We call on the Sudanese Armed Forces to remove the restrictions on convoys entering Sudan and urge the Rapid Support Forces to facilitate access across lines of conflict. We are continuing to push for humanitarian corridors to be stabilised, for civilians to be protected and for international humanitarian law to be fully implemented.
The UK has also sanctioned individuals and entities fuelling the conflict, including key figures linked to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. These sanctions are not merely symbolic; they are a clear message that those responsible for the violence will be held accountable. External arms supplies are perpetuating this violence, and the United Kingdom has made clear that they must stop if we are to have any hope of achieving peace.
Turning to peacebuilding, the United Kingdom supports the establishment of a civilian-led Government in Sudan. This country’s future must not include those who have led it into turmoil. Our support extends to the Taqaddum coalition, where we are providing technical and diplomatic assistance to promote inclusive dialogue among all Sudanese stakeholders.
The international community must not turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in Sudan. The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities being committed, particularly in Darfur, where mass killings and systematic rape are reported. Some attacks by the RSF and its allied militia appear to have been ethnically motivated, and these bear all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the SAF have launched indiscriminate air strikes in heavily populated areas, with no regard for civilian casualties. These atrocities have drawn comparisons to the darkest chapters in Sudan’s history, and we must act to prevent history repeating itself.
These crimes cannot go unpunished, and we are working closely with the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that justice is served. This includes leading efforts in the HRC last year to establish the independent and international fact-finding mission for Sudan. We are also funding initiatives such as the Sudan Witness project through the Centre for Information Resilience. Such initiatives are crucial in documenting abuses, providing evidence for prosecutions and ensuring that victims are heard.
To conclude, it will require a concerted international effort to end this crisis, and the United Kingdom’s efforts to do so will continue as long as they are needed. We will continue working with our partners to provide humanitarian assistance, bring the warring parties to the negotiating table and hold those responsible for atrocities to account. Sudanese people deserve the dividends of peace. Sudan can and must move towards a peaceful and prosperous future—and, with sustained international support, I believe it will. I beg to move.
The talks went ahead, with representation from the United States special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, who made it clear that the agreements reached went beyond the opening of the Adre border, although that is of course vital, and mentioned the fact that the RSF gave commitments to implement a code of conduct among its own fighters. I hope the Minister will forgive my cynicism about the likelihood of that actually happening, given the widespread reports of the atrocities caused by the RSF, to which the noble Lord referred; sometimes we find the RSF posting videos of the killings and the rapes online, celebrating what they have just been doing in graphic detail. Of course, there is an extremely difficult barrier to achieving any success in peace, short and long term, and that is the battle between the two people who want to control the country.
It was extremely disappointing that, in December last year, the United Nations Security Council was put in an impossible position by the Sudanese Government’s formal request to terminate the mandate of UNITAMS —the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. In the light of that, can the Minister say today what steps the Government are taking as penholder on Sudan to support the development of options for the deployment of a civilian protection mission in Sudan, in co-ordination with the African Union, the UN and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development? I know there have been discussions about this possibility. Sudanese people desperately need a respite from the warfare between those two leaders and the battle-hardened people behind them. As we know, the conflict has created this manmade humanitarian disaster.
In yesterday’s debate in Grand Committee and today, the Minister rightly referred to the increase in ODA payments—an uplift in contributions—to try to ease some of the humanitarian crisis there. I am, however, a little bit confused, because there has been a bit of a tangle about some of the announcements made over the summer and today. I do not see any problem with that; I think the Government are simply trying to make a series of announcements and that it is a case of where the money is and what it is going to do. I would be grateful if the Minister might untangle that, and if he is not in a position to do that today, I would of course be happy with a letter to me, which could be put in the Library.
For example, the Government announced on 22 August that they will provide
“£86 million in vital life-saving support for vulnerable people in South Sudan, Sudan and Chad to … Save lives … Tackle food shortages … Prevent gender-based violence … Assist displaced communities to adapt to the impact of flooding”.
Those are all vital and all huge efforts. How much of that is actually going to Sudan, considering that other countries are mentioned in that? In addition, does that £86 million include within it the £2 million in support for the 150,000 Sudanese refugees who are in eastern Libya? That extra uplift was announced by Minister Dodds on 12 July; is it part of it or in addition to it; where are we going on that? How does all that fit in with the Minister’s statement yesterday in Grand Committee about what the uplift was? I will not quote from it today—other noble Lords can look at it—but it does not quite fit in with what he was saying today and earlier announcements made this summer.
Last week, I attended the online launch of the report Beyond the Numbers: Hunger and Conflict in Sudan, published by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps and the Danish Refugee Council. The report is based on the testimonies from people in regions which include Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum. It reveals the direct and indirect ways in which the conflict and widespread violations of international humanitarian law have led to suffering and starvation on a vast scale. Will Carter of the NRC made the point at the launch that not enough has been done by the international community to tap into local forms of resilience and the support from the private sector. Does the Minister agree with his view?
The report concludes with a series of significant recommendations, I shall just pick out two and ask the Minister whether the Government support them and will take action on them. First,
“the UN Security Council, the UN leadership and member states should engage in proactive diplomacy that highlights the connection between conflict and hunger, as per Resolution 2417 and the G7 Famine Prevention Compact”.
Secondly, providers of ODA should
“Support Farmers in Boosting Food Production … as the key to addressing urgent food needs and stabilising the food insecurity crisis”.
After all, the FCDO sets the strategic direction for much of the UK’s approach to agricultural development. What are the Government’s plans to take action on this when it is safe to do so?
The conflict in Sudan has received just a fraction of the media attention given to Gaza and Ukraine, yet it threatens to be deadlier than either conflict, and, as the noble Lord said, it risks undermining security in the whole region.
Both sides in this war—the RSF and the SAF—are accused of international war crimes. There are truly appalling reports of soldiers using rape as a weapon. Even before the fighting broke out, the UN estimated that 3 million women and girls in Sudan were at risk of gender-based violence. It is rightly described as
“one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”
by UN officials.
Yet after President Bashir was removed in 2019, there were genuine hopes that the transition to a civilian-led Government based on human rights and the rule of law might be possible. Certainly, in September 2022, during my first visit to Sudan, I was struck by the optimism and hope when talking to my Sudanese colleagues. At home in my flat, I have a copy of Hussein Merghani’s wonderful watercolour from 2019, which shows hundreds of people, including women and children from Atbara, travelling by train to join the sit-in at the military headquarters in Khartoum in April 2019. The painting is optimistic and shows the strength of public support at that time, across the country, after the revolution in 2019, for a different future for Sudan. It was an all too fleeting time of optimism.
One of the people I got to know while working in Khartoum was Samia El Hashmi. Samia is an eminent Sudanese lawyer and women’s rights activist who was working with the Sudanese Bar Association. After the revolution, Samia helped to draft a new constitution for Sudan which enshrined human rights and the rule of law. In many ways, Samia for me embodies the many wonderful and highly educated people I met in Sudan—people who just want to live a normal life in the country that they love but who had to flee for their lives when the fighting started in April last year.
The history of relations between Sudan and Britain is long and complex, but this shared history creates a special bond between our nations. We should not forget that the University of Durham’s Sudan archive preserves much of the history of Sudan. With this shared history comes responsibility. After the December revolution, the UK rightly played an important role with the quartet in supporting the democratic transition and promoting civilian government, political security and stability, economic reform and human rights. This is a process which should be continued and revived whenever—as we all hope—this conflict can be brought to an end.
I do not have an instant solution for how we can bring about peace to Sudan. I am sure many noble Lords speaking in the debate today are much better qualified and placed than me to make suggestions in that regard. But as my friend Samia has said to me, Britain can and must continue to play a trusted role, and do all in our power to work with others to bring about an end to this most bloody of conflicts.
In his concluding remarks, I would be grateful if the Minister could say a little more about the Government’s position on increasing the arms embargo to cover the whole of the country. I welcome what he said in his opening statement: that the Government will do all they can to ensure that those guilty of the most appalling war crimes—particularly against women and children—will face justice through the International Criminal Court.
Wars can too easily become about just statistics, but for me, this is personal. It is about the Sudanese people I had the opportunity to get to know and work with during my visits to Sudan. They desperately want the international community to give them some hope that the conflict can be stopped and that they can return to their country and start to rebuild once again from the rubble.
We often say that black lives matter. If that is so, why has the world been so silent about the suffering in Sudan? We glibly say, “Never again”, and then, in a total failure of international statecraft, we watch it happen all over again. There is no greater indication of the failure of international justice and accountability than Sudan.
I joined the all-party parliamentary group over 20 years ago, after travelling to Sudan during the second Sudanese civil war, which raged from 1983 to 2005, and in which 2 million people died of killing, famine or disease and 4 million people were displaced. It ultimately led to the death of the country itself and to partition. In October 2004, I went to Darfur. The Independent newspaper carried my report under the words:
“If this isn’t genocide, then what on earth is?”
As many as 300,000 people perished, and 2 million people were displaced. Atrocity crimes included the Government-backed Janjaweed’s systematic rape of women and the burning and looting of villages—90% of which were razed to the ground—all driven by an ideological hatred of difference. The International Criminal Court said it was genocide. Omar al-Bashir and some of the others involved in those crimes have still not been brought to justice.
Reports of new outrages in early 2023 led to the all-party group asking me to chair a new inquiry. Our report, Genocide All Over Again in Darfur?, described the consequences of daring to think you can neglect the issue of justice. We concluded that, whatever happens when the violence in Sudan ends, there will be no lasting and credible peace without justice.
On 18 July 2023, I tabled a Private Notice Question asking the Government,
“following the discovery of mass graves and an increase in crimes targeting non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, what assessment they have made of the risk of genocide in that region”.
I quoted the current prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan KC, who had told the United Nations Security Council the previous week that we were
“in peril of allowing history to repeat itself”.
He said that Darfur was
“not on the precipice of a human catastrophe but in the very midst of one. It is occurring”.
At the time, the noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked the then Government
“what we are doing to put pressure on Sudan so that people cannot act with impunity in the future”.—[Official Report, 18/7/23; cols. 2206-07.]
To find the answer to that crucial question, I hope that the noble Lord will agree to convene a round table to examine with Members of your Lordships’ House ways for us to honour our duties under the 1948 UN convention on the crime of genocide, which lays upon us, as a signatory, the duty to predict, prevent, protect and punish. We do none of those things.
What will be done about the horrendous evidence not just from the past but in this week’s fact-finding mission report given to the United Nations Human Rights Council? I was appalled to read, yet again, about the same things that I have myself seen. The report detailed instances of rape and sexual violence occurring now, with the rape of girls as young as eight and of women as old as 75. I repeat: girls as young as eight years of age. The fact-finding mission attributed these crimes to
“men wearing RSF uniforms … who victims referred to as Janjaweed”.
It said that international crimes are being committed by the SAF and the RSF, including
“murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture; and committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment”.
Crimes against humanity intersect with the persecution and forcible displacement of people on grounds of ethnicity and gender. Karim Khan says that the current situation in Sudan is within the purview of the ICC’s mandate. He has been collecting and analysing the evidence. Can the Minister tell us how the UK’s war crimes unit is working with him and other like-minded nations?
We should not foolishly imagine that what happens in a faraway place stays there. In the foreword to our report, I said:
“More refugees will be coming our way if we do not act now and address the situation”.
The failure to tackle root causes both fails the displaced and plays into the hands of those who wickedly whip up fear and hatred of refugees. Undoubtedly, the immediate priority must be humanitarian aid. The situation is too urgent to wait for permission from the men with guns to enter Sudan. Does the Minister agree? In the Security Council—this was referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay—the United Kingdom should call for an international intervention force under UN or African Union auspices, and initiate a Chapter VII mandate to do so. Can the Minister tell us whether that is our intention?
Building on something said by the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, I say that we must do far more to support Abdalla Hamdok and those Sudanese people who are committed to the popular democratic calls for peace, justice and freedom. In our all-party group’s report, we talked about a “tantalising” glimpse of hope but, if hope is to be sustained, it needs more than a glimpse —it must be a long-term commitment.
Sudan deserves much better than the SAF and the RSF. Since independence in 1989, the SAF has been an army only ever deployed against its own people. Wars end when one side clearly wins, when one side surrenders or when one side becomes exhausted, none of which seems to be about to happen. Both have weapons, money and, sometimes, opaque external support driven by jihadist ideology, as was referred to by the noble Baroness. What is our strategy for dealing with this?
At the end of today’s debate, I would like to give the Minister a book of pictures drawn by children in Darfur, which was put together by Waging Peace. I hope that it will always be a reminder to him to keep them ever in his thoughts and actions.
While in Port Sudan, the Bishop of Bradford and I visited a camp for displaced people. Around 2,000 people live in a derelict school. Because they were internally displaced and are therefore not refugees, they receive no support for health, education or food—just a few tents from UNICEF. The night after we visited, a delegation came to see us and told us that at least one woman had been raped by soldiers in the early hours after we had left. We met a pastor, now also living in exile from Khartoum. His home was attacked by the RSF, and all he had had been destroyed. He was beaten a number of times before being asked, “How do you want to die?” He was rescued by a Muslim neighbour who hid him until he could escape and get to Port Sudan, mostly on foot.
We had time there with the director of central intelligence, who said that there was no restriction on what I could report of our conversation in my diocese or in this House. His narrative is one with which I am very familiar: the conflict is not a conflict of equals. The SAF and the Government are seeking to secure the future of Sudan. The RSF are rebels who seek their own gain, deploy violent mercenaries from other countries and kill indiscriminately, with a clear suggestion that they will settle for the possible division of the country. It was put to me that, when people need sanctuary, they do not flee to the open arms of the RSF or their controlled areas but to places controlled by the SAF. That is just a fact.
The case put by the current Sudanese Government is clear. The international community—especially the UK, as pen holder of the UN, along with our deep connections with Sudan over decades—must work to stop the flow of arms and money to the RSF, particularly from the United Arab Emirates. However, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and others are also involved in this tragedy. Someone is profiting from the arms flow, and it is not the starving, suffering people of Sudan. Governments must apply pressure via sanctions and co-ordinated action—by a reinvigorated troika, for example—to cut off the flow. Surely the priority of a ceasefire, urged by many involved parties, is only possible once that arms flow has been stopped.
When a ceasefire becomes possible, who is going to lead the mediation? Many countries that wish to are directly involved on one side or the other. Calling for a ceasefire sounds noble until we dig into the pragmatics of how to make it happen. Also, if a ceasefire simply freezes the divisions that are there now on the ground and both sides keep the territory they control at that point, where do we go from there?
We cannot simply wait for the conflict to end or be ended. The international community must press hard now for protected access points to be opened across the country in order that millions of lives can be saved and a viable future for the children of Sudan can be opened up. Children must be prioritised if the seeds of the next several generations of violence, power struggles and poverty are not to be watered so freely in the blood-soaked violence of now.
The UK Government and partners must leverage all their resources and political power to cut off the arms flow and create the conditions where any credible ceasefire might create the space for negotiation. Failure to address this catastrophe now will only lead to increasingly uncontrollable consequences elsewhere, with further destabilisation of an already fragile region. For example, oil gelling in the pipelines will diminish South Sudan’s economy and add to economic and humanitarian challenges. Mass irregular migration will be a consequence, and so on. So I agree with the call for all diplomatic means, as the Minister said. It is essential that the new special envoy must physically get into Sudan. I have to say that Port Sudan, when I was there, was safer than London. We need a physical, visible presence, even if it is only on a regular visit. Other ambassadors and envoys are doing this.
The Church of England’s love for our sisters and brothers in Sudan will not diminish. We will continue not only to pray but to act, caring for the Sudanese expat community here and those in Sudan whom we can reach. We might justify the UK government advice again and visit the people we love. For us in the Christian Church, faith is incarnational: fleshed, physical and material. I urge the Minister in his response to give assurances that Sudan will gain in focus and not be left on the “too complicated” pile. I hope that the Minister will be willing to meet with me and others to pursue this further engagement.
There have been almost unthinkable levels of harm being meted out to civilians, including sexual violence on an extreme scale and ethnic-based targeting of civilians. I 100% agree with my noble friend the Minister about the importance of accountability. We have to ensure that records are kept because, even if people are not held accountable now, they can be held accountable in the future.
However, these are outward manifestations of the issues impacting Sudan, which are deep and structural. The political transition headed by Prime Minister Hamdok was on track. It was then sidetracked and now hangs in the balance. The military leadership is fractured and whether or not they have “legitimacy”—a word which I hesitate to use—they think they do or are perceived to, they do not represent the civilian leadership or the people of Sudan. The situation seems to be at an impasse.
In these situations, the United Nations and its member states acting together can often have a significant impact. They can show leadership and, through that, broker an outcome.
So much of what is happening in Sudan contains familiar ingredients, such as long-term conflict with no apparent end. I saw it time and again when I was at the UN, and I know that Ministers in many UN member states share the view that a number of things are particular to these kinds of conflicts: a history of authoritarian military leadership; a tussle for power among the military and other armed factions; international interference, with powerful countries taking sides; and no attention at all paid to the people on the ground.
Conflict-induced humanitarian crisis is intensified by poverty, natural disaster, and food insecurity, which I have already mentioned, leading to famine. These situations require patience, but also attention to detail and creativity. As countries and member states of the United Nations, we need to have the courage to use the tools available to us as an international community. We can continue with what we are doing now or take what is often perceived as a risk with that creativity.
I support the elements that my noble friend the Minister laid out in terms of the work currently going on, including establishing a framework for talks that are inclusive and co-ordinated. They have to happen, but they must be inclusive, bringing women, young people and other stakeholders together—perhaps informed by track 2. There will be groups that want to be spoilers, but it is best to engage rather than exclude.
All armed actors have to guarantee humanitarian access. It is currently fragmented: some groups are demanding money for access and some agreed routes are not open at all. I ask my noble friend the Minister: what more can be done to ensure that signed agreements are adhered to, and can any sanctions be applied to those that have signed but are not participating? There must be accountability for crimes committed, adherence to the rule of law and the rules of combat and engagement, and protection of civilians. That is almost impossible in some situations, but we have to start somewhere. Sponsors of armed groups must cease providing weapons and should be held to account.
The Security Council, collectively, needs to be much more actively engaged—not just debating but coming up with other actions. In the past, the UN has assumed a responsibility to protect. We saw it in Libya, when it lost some of its resonance because of the way in which it was prosecuted. I feel very strongly that that can be used now, in this situation. My noble friend the Minister talked about using all diplomatic efforts. Will the UK, working with partners on the Security Council, push for the use of the responsibility to protect? If we have not done it so far, why not?
I also associate myself with the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, on Chapter VII. I think this is important to do. Sudan is in danger of becoming a failed state. Every life matters; let us not let the people down.
I therefore welcome this debate and thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for his support, advice and insights, and for the enduring friendship that we have developed over the last seven years. I look forward to continuing that both within the Chamber and beyond.
We have already heard some incredible contributions in this debate on Sudan. Sudan is a country blessed by God. When I visited Sudan back in 2017 and again in 2019, there was great hope. Khartoum is where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet, and I remember the importance of communities and civil society, which I will come on to in a moment or two, but also the importance of bringing communities together, religious communities as well. I therefore welcome the contributions from the Spiritual Benches.
When I visited Darfur, in my capacity as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, I saw abhorrent practices at first hand. As we have heard from other noble Lords, young girls were being not just victimised but raped repeatedly and with impunity. So we must have accountability as we move forward and we need religious communities to be part of that conversation. I remember resolving the issue of Sunday no longer being given as a holiday for the Christian community. It was resolved not just by diplomacy by nations or by engaging with the then authorities; it came from bringing religious communities together.
We know all too well the humanitarian and economic challenges that Sudan faces. Many noble Lords have articulated them and I will not repeat them. I align myself with much of what has already been said by noble Lords, but the humanitarian situation is stark. Sudan has failed, and the responsibility is not just on Sudan; it is a collective responsibility, as the Minister articulated in his excellent opening.
Children and babies are caught up in this conflict. They face a stark choice: leave your country and travel to another country where you may or may not be looked after, or face the wrath of two generals, Burhan and Hemedti, who believe—absolutely ideologically—that they will end this war by killing each other and whoever sides with the other. That will not be the resolution to this conflict, or indeed others.
The economic challenges and religious and communal tensions must be addressed. We must look to all our regional partners and allies to find a collective solution to the challenges Sudan faces. Therefore, as we look towards what I hope will be real, practical pathways to peace, can the Minister tell us what the latest updates are on the various initiatives—as I myself knew about during my time at the Foreign Office—whether through the African Union, the Arab League or IGAD? I would welcome an update. We know the important role that regional partners can play and the influences they bring. The Minister has already given valuable updates on the engagement he has conducted, but what engagement have we had with key partners such as Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates?
In all these areas and all this diplomacy, at times we need to be inclusive, but we also need to be constructive. In my experience, however, at times we must be discreet, because that unlocks the potential solution.
The role of the United Nations is important, as we have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, and the Minister. Can he update us, as the penholder, on what more can be done beyond the Human Rights Council fact-finding mission and whether we can convene a meeting based on some of the recommendations from that report?
What of the important role of the United States? Was Sudan on the agenda in the recent discussions the Foreign Secretary had with Secretary of State Blinken, and in the discussions that are rightly taking place on resolving conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine? As has been said repeatedly, let us also not forget Sudan.
Inclusivity of approach is important. We have heard about the importance of civil society. I share with the Minister a plea that was hard in the making, as my noble friend Baroness Anelay knows all too well: we need women mediators at the table—not at the end or in another room; we need women mediators at the start. Whether we are dealing with issues of accountability around conflict-related sexual violence, or using and leveraging our experience, we have the structures in place within the UN and we have women who bring valuable experience. We must leverage that in resolving these issues. Conflicts are resolved, and peace agreements last longer, when women are involved at the start.
Accountability cannot be forgotten in all this. The ICC’s role is key. What engagement have we had with the ICC on setting up the mechanisms now to ensure that the solutions can be provided tomorrow?
The Minister informed us that the Government are looking at appointing special representatives. I look forward to their continuing the important work we started on preventing sexual violence in conflict, but let me mention one practical example. We saw mobile courts work well with partners such as Transparency International to bring justice locally and ensure that perpetrators are held to account. That practical measure is working in the DRC, and I hope it can be deployed in Sudan.
We need inclusive responses, transparent ways of working and discreet diplomacy when required. This is not an issue just for Sudan or the region; it has global implications for migration, the movement of people, accountability and the rules-based order system. I ask the Minister to continuously update your Lordships’ House on our efforts to ensure that this human catastrophe can be brought to an end.
The problem in Sudan is historically driven. It goes right back to the 1950s and to the settlement made by the Government of that time, which Churchill described as Munich on the Nile. The horrors of a long civil war have led to the division of the country once and its incapacity to avoid further divisions as we go forward. Therefore, I want to suggest to the Minister that we need to invest longer term in broader reconciliation resources, specifically designed with partners to find peaceful solutions.
In other words, the strategic defence review should be full spectrum, preparing this nation not only to wage war but to wage peace as well. I fear that may not be the case, but even if it does not happen in the SDR, I hope very much that the Government, in particular the FCDO, will look very carefully at putting such mechanisms in place—not least, in our current times in this country, for reasons of economy. Stopping conflict before it happens via peaceful political solutions should be central to any root and branch redesign of security and defence.
Our influence in sub-Saharan Africa remains enormous. Our expertise is very considerable, both in civil society among the Churches, where, for example, the Anglican Communion has its largest percentage of members, and through government and the long experience we have of understanding issues there. The work of peacebuilding not only saves lives but saves vast amounts of taxpayers’ money for defence, for migration control and from humanitarian aid. It can be used expertly in contexts where our military would, rightly, never operate in force, yet where strategic foreign policy must work, such as in the context of securing critical minerals for the global transition to renewable energies from countries such as the DRC. Reducing the need for emergency funding, reducing destruction and reducing the dangers of vastly increased immigration are in our interests.
The noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, made a very powerful point when she spoke of seeing Wagner in Khartoum. We are engaged in supporting Ukraine and, as a global power, we must look globally in the offshoots of that conflict, which we are seeking to diminish. The recent creation of the FCDO’s negotiations and peace process support team is an attempt at this, but it is, frankly, underfunded, understaffed and held within a limited FCDO remit. Thus, as my last comment, I suggest that we should see the creation of a joint reconciliation unit, staffed by intelligence, conflict analysts and military, civilian and trade specialists, complemented by experienced international negotiators and underpinned by relations with NGOs and faith groups, for most of these conflicts are in areas of high levels of belief. It should report to the National Security Council, because it is a matter of security. Crises happen, and they will go on, but we can do far better to be more effective and secure our own interests in the long term.