Sudan

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by declaring my interest as recorded in the register. It is always a pleasure to speak in this Chamber, not only because of the expertise but because of the clarity and compassion with which noble Lords speak.

I welcome this critical debate on a matter of urgent global concern: the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that is developing; the largest displacement crisis in the world; an education system in crisis, with 19 million children out of school; and an unprecedented situation of mass starvation, with more than 25 million people experiencing acute hunger.

In North Darfur, one of the country’s largest displacement camps, Zamzam, is now confirmed to be in a famine situation—a historic, terrible and shameful milestone. Those facing the worst of the country’s hunger crisis live in areas where violence has been the most intense. Fighting has disrupted harvests, and many families fleeing their homes and without income can simply not afford food. NGOs and local responders report children dying of malnutrition daily, families barely managing one meal a day, and people resorting to eating leaves and locusts.

The main driver of famine is the conflict and the complete disregard for international humanitarian law. Civilians are not only hungry; they are being starved, with the warring parties using food and aid as a weapon. Parties to the conflict have also systematically targeted essential healthcare, electricity, water, telecommunications and fuel infrastructure.

In Darfur, large-scale attacks on civilians based on ethnicity led to the mass killing of thousands and forced a mass exodus to Chad last year, echoing the mass atrocities of the early 2000s. Across the country, rape and other forms of sexual violence have been widely used as a weapon of war. According to Human Rights Watch, sexual violence has been a central part of the campaign of ethnic cleansing in El Geneina and has spread to Khartoum Bahri, with reports of rape, gang rape and forced marriages. Victims have also been subjected to conditions resembling sexual slavery.

In response to these shocking events, there has been a shocking apathy from the world, in stark contrast to the global action taken 20 years ago following the genocide in Darfur. Today, as millions of Sudanese again face starvation and displacement, I hope that we can revive that spirit of international solidarity.

With that in mind, I want to put five points to the Minister. First, the Sudanese people have shown admirable resilience, but they cannot carry on alone for ever. They are calling for decisive international action. Sudanese civil society is calling for the urgent establishment of a civilian protection force, particularly in Darfur, through the African Union and United Nations. Their appeal is that this force should include mobile units focused on high-risk areas, with specific emphasis on supporting women and girls. Can the Minister say whether the Government support the establishment of a dedicated force to protect civilians, monitor human rights abuses and facilitate the return of displaced people, and, if so, what diplomatic action has been taken to bring it about?

Secondly, a recent Amnesty International report revealed that weapons from China, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and the Gulf are flooding into Sudan, including Darfur, despite a UN arms embargo. While we all welcome the UN Security Council’s unanimous decision—how refreshing that was—to renew the arms embargo for another year, I must question whether an extension without effective enforcement is meaningful, and why the embargo does not cover the whole of Sudan. Does the Minister share these concerns, and is it the Government’s policy to support the broadening of the embargo?

Thirdly, local responders have played a crucial role from the outset, providing vital aid to trapped populations on the front lines of the conflict. Organised into neighbourhood-based mutual aid groups, they have established communal kitchens, collective shelters and distribution of medication and clinics, and organised evacuation for vulnerable groups. In Khartoum state for example, over 350 communal kitchens have been established, assisting 500,000 families with at least one meal a day. In Zamzam camp, local responders are one of the only lifelines, as armed groups continue to besiege the area and prevent aid from reaching people. The resilience of the local responders underscores the urgent need for increased support from the international community. I hope the Minister can tell the House what the UK is doing to support these locally led humanitarian efforts.

Fourthly, the treatment of women and children in Sudan reflects patterns seen in other global conflicts. I welcome the Government’s plan to host an event on conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. I am heartened that the initiative co-founded by the noble Lord, Lord Hague, and Angelina Jolie has survived all the political upheavals since 2012, and that the new Government are committed to it is particularly encouraging. The noble Lord rightly asked last year, when he was on these Benches, what steps the Government were taking to support survivors of sexual violence in Sudan—and in particular, in his words,

“to support evidence gathering by specialists to make sure that the accountability that is so necessary is maintained”.—[Official Report, 26/4/23; col. 1260.]

Could he tell the House whether the Government are actively pursuing this accountability, and what action has been taken since July?

I know we are far from this moment. Any peace process must be truly inclusive, as others have pointed out, and women must not be an afterthought but at the centre of any negotiations. Sudanese women played a pivotal role in the 2019 protests that led to the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir and demonstrated their potential for driving meaningful change in the 2021 coup. Their voices must be heard in peace negotiations.

Gender-based violence is a global epidemic, affecting one in three women worldwide, and is exacerbated in conflict zones. This violence limits women’s participation in politics, education and the economy, ultimately stifling a nation’s future. Yet, in 2022, only 0.2% of global aid addressed gender-based violence. We need to not only discuss but act decisively on this issue. I welcome the Government’s commitment to appointing a Prime Minister’s special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. I also hope that the Foreign Secretary himself will personally support this initiative. The biggest impact that we have had in the years of PSVI was due to the fact that the then Foreign Secretary William Hague used almost every meeting with his counterparts to raise the issue, whenever and wherever it was relevant.

I have proposed and been campaigning for the establishment of a permanent international commission to investigate these crimes, hold perpetrators accountable and deliver justice for survivors, not because the UN Special Representative’s office is not willing to undertake this but because it is often restrained and frustrated by its own bureaucracy and the competing priorities of the member states. Such a commission could assist in gathering forensic evidence, preserving it and supporting various judicial mechanisms, including domestic courts and international tribunals. The Core International Crimes Evidence Database for Ukraine provides a useful model for a similar commission focused on conflict-related sexual violence. I hope that the Government will look at this proposal and see whether they can adopt a policy of allocating at least 2% of international aid specifically for addressing gender-based violence, focusing on both consequences and prevention, and I welcome any update that the Minister can give in this regard.

Sudan stands as a test case for increased accountability and funding for gender-based violence, giving greater support to locally led humanitarian efforts and the equal inclusion of women in peace negotiations—but it is also a test of our common humanity. I urge the Government to make their response to the crisis in Sudan an example of new levels of action and commitment on all these fronts.

Afghanistan

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Wednesday 18th August 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Helic (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I start by paying tribute to all those who served in Afghanistan, those who lost their lives and those who were injured. I agree that this is a disaster. The coalition’s withdrawal has created a long-term problem: a major humanitarian crisis with no end in sight and an ongoing risk of Afghanistan once again becoming a terrorists’ safe haven. I welcome the decision to receive 20,000 refugees, but, given the urgency of the situation, I fear that 5,000 is insufficient for the next year. When people face death, the prospect of asylum in a year’s time is not much hope. Most Afghans will stay in Afghanistan, and 20,000 is less than 0.1% of the population.

The world should open its doors to refugees with generosity, but we cannot empty the country. What is going to happen to the Afghans left behind? Humanitarian aid will be necessary. We cut our aid funding for Afghanistan by 78% this year. That has to be reversed fast. Supporting women and girls with education and healthcare will be more important now than ever, whether they are in refugee camps or in towns and villages throughout Afghanistan. This will be far harder than before, but we must find a way.

We must also ask how we ended up here. How did an army collapse overnight? The withdrawal of American troops was a severe blow to capability and morale. The importance of the 2,500 American soldiers far outweighed their number. Their presence was a sign of the weight of global backing behind the Afghans on the front line. They were a crucial buttress for the Afghan national army—a core part of its design. Their withdrawal left it unsupported, demoralised and ready to crash down.

Even more worrying than the effect of the withdrawal on the Afghan national army was its apparently similar effect on NATO and the international coalition. I understand that the MoD tried to rally international partners to take up America’s role. That that proved impossible does not reflect well on the strength of NATO and on our ability to act abroad or without the US by our side. Only five months after it was published, the integrated review is out of date. It said:

“We will continue to support stability in Afghanistan, as part of a wider coalition”


and that providing support to the Government of Afghanistan would be a key part of our counterterror strategy. The Government of Afghanistan are no more, the wider coalition has collapsed, and our influence in Washington seems alarmingly limited, as is our influence in Europe.

The past week has been the most extraordinary of the reversals. The Afghan Government were flawed but they were democratic. The direction of travel was right. Now they have been swept aside and all the gains of the past 20 years could go into reverse. As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11 next month, the Taliban control more of Afghanistan than they did when the Twin Towers fell. That leaves us with three urgent questions. How do we support the Afghans now stuck under the new rule? Where does this leave our allies and our foreign policy? Where does this leave global Britain? The Government must try to answer them.

Integrated Review

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I have said, the full integrated review when published next year will set out our overarching strategy for national security and foreign policy.

[Baroness Helic (Con) [V]]

I join noble Lords in welcoming this significant and long-overdue spending commitment. What impact will it have on job creation in all four nations of the United Kingdom?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I said in a previous answer, we believe that this settlement will create jobs across the United Kingdom. For instance, in Scotland, we already spend £1.7 billion a year supporting 10,000 jobs, and we are taking forward our plans for the eight Type 26 and five Type 31 frigates currently being constructed on the Clyde. There will be further growth of jobs in Northern Ireland and, we hope, in Wales. This is indeed a good settlement for job creation in the United Kingdom. We want construction on those projects to be UK-led. As I said, we hope that 10,000 jobs a year will be created, with many more within the supply chains, across the UK.

Syria: UK Military Action

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on his powerful and timely maiden speech. I had the privilege to work with him for over a decade and it is my honour to be on the same Benches now.

When the Arab spring arrived in Syria, I was heartened by the support that many rightfully offered to its people. I was disappointed when that support ebbed away and, most of all, when the hands of our own Government were tied after the use of chemical weapons by Assad forces. Those who voted against military action then, when ISIL barely existed, said it could only make things worse. Today, thousands more people are dead, there are 5 million refugees and Lebanon, Turkey, Tunisia and Paris have been attacked. It is hard to imagine how it could have been any worse.

I supported the Government then and I support the Government now. Daesh poses a threat to the United Kingdom and we cannot rely on the others to defend our security. It is deliberately working to undermine the cohesion as well as the security of our societies by trying to create a clash of religions. If we simply wait, the poison will spread and we will have to pay an even higher price to confront it in the future.

It seems obvious that military action to disrupt Daesh is only a part of the solution, along with choking off its finances and external support, securing the border between Turkey and Syria and, above all, working on a political settlement. This means being clear about what kind of Syria we wish to see emerge and overcoming the question of President Assad that has paralysed diplomacy. We should not confuse the process of diplomacy, which will require dealings with Damascus, however unpalatable, with the outcome we are seeking—a stable, sovereign Syria, at peace with itself and its neighbours.

Like others in this House, I recall the ending of the war in Bosnia, after mass atrocities, mass displacement and the Srebrenica genocide. The person behind many of these crimes, President Milosevic of Serbia, was one of the main signatories of the peace agreement with the full blessing of the international community. It was a flawed and unjust peace, giving de facto recognition to ethnic cleansing. However, it stopped the killings, refugees went back and Milosevic ended his days in The Hague, exactly where he belonged.

Assad has presided over the slaughter of his own people and the destruction of Syria. We cannot continue letting his sheer existence decide if, when and how the war ends. While there is no future for Assad in Syria, we today must find a way forward. We have faced such difficult moral, political and strategic situations before and found a solution through diplomacy and hard power. We must do the same for Syria for the sake of its people, peace and our own security. That, in my view, must start with military action against Daesh in Syria.