Thank you for contacting me about Sudan. Sudan is one of the UK’s Human Rights Priority Countries. Both warring parties are accused of committing violations against International Humanitarian Law and widespread human rights violations and abuses, including deliberate killing of civilians, arbitrary arrests and detentions, conflict-related sexual violence, and attacks on media freedom. I want to see an end to this appalling conflict and to the suffering of the Sudanese people
In April 2023, fighting between rival armed factions broke out in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The conflict is primarily a power struggle between the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two groups, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, respectively, are battling one another for control of the state and its resources.
The situation in Sudan is now catastrophic. No part of the country, or indeed any neighbouring country, has been unaffected and the level of human suffering is unconscionable. An estimated 150,000 people have been killed and 11 million displaced inside Sudan, with millions more having fled to neighbouring countries. It has been reported that 26 million people – over half of the country’s population – are facing acute hunger, and the risk of famine is high. Continued fighting will only cost further civilian lives and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Like you, I am gravely concerned by the impact this conflict is having on innocent children in Sudan. Reports of horrific crimes, including sexual violence, against children are truly abhorrent and sicken me to my core. I am also deeply concerned about reports of ethnic cleansing against the region's non-Arabic population and of mass sexual violence being used as a weapon of war.
Disease outbreaks are increasing in the face of disruptions of basic public health services, including disease surveillance, functioning public health laboratories and rapid response teams. In addition, insecurity, displacement, limited access to medicines, medical supplies, electricity, and water continue to pose enormous challenges to delivering health care across the country. About 65 per cent of the population lack access to healthcare and between 70 - 80 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are no longer functional.
The previous Conservative Government consistently supported Sudan, with £10.8 million provided in 2022 and nearly £50 million for 2023-24. Almost a year on from the start of the current conflict in March 2024, the UK announced further support, meaning overall UK aid to Sudan will increase to £89 million in 2024-25.
When the March support package was announced, the previous Government stated that the funding would support UNICEF in delivering emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to-reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5. It would also support survivors of gender-based violence, with £4.95 million being used to provide 100,000 women and girls with a range of female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-based violence prevention and response services.
The previous Government also said that the March funding would support the World Food Programme to assist over 285,000 beneficiaries for 6 months by providing 13,405 tons of assorted food commodities. These include cereals, pulses, oils and salt.
Contributions to help those fleeing to neighbouring countries as a result of the conflict, providing £7.75 million in South Sudan including to support existing and new refugees, and £15 million to Chad over the last year, were also made.
Both sides must end the violence and de-escalate tensions immediately and I strongly support calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to all hostilities in Sudan. This UK government must leave no stone unturned in pressing the warring parties into a ceasefire. The Government must also do everything within its power to hold those responsible for the atrocities to account.
The previous Conservative Government applied a range of sanctions on those supporting the activities of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). In Opposition, my colleagues on the Shadow Front Bench have pressed the current Government on its approach to sanctions and how it plans to pressure the leadership of the RSF and the SAF, and those supporting these awful war machines. It is my firm belief that what is needed is for all regional partners and those with influence over the two warring parties to focus on the importance of ending the conflict with immediate effect.
As penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, I hope the current UK Government will follow in the footsteps of my colleagues in the previous Government and amplify calls for the warring parties to achieve a ceasefire, increase much-needed humanitarian assistance and access, and ensure the protection of civilians. I will closely monitor the UK’s action to encourage other countries that could be doing more to leverage their own influence.
The UN has called the war “a crisis of epic proportions” and one which is “wholly man-made”. The UN has also commented on the fact that the rival armies have been able to keep fighting in no small part thanks to the material support they receive from outside the Sudan.
As the Shadow Foreign Secretary has made clear, the world can and should be doing much more about the appalling on-going conflict in Sudan.
