Sudan: Protection of Civilians

Lord Hussain Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I stand by what I said. These resolutions and statements are helpful in many ways, but, unless they change things on the ground, I believe that we are failing. I wonder sometimes where the liberal outrage is for Sudan that we see for other places. There are many reasons why that might be the case, but a lack of attention and focus from this Government at the UN or anywhere else is not one of them. I led an event at the UN General Assembly just last month. We have been able to get the fact-finding mission off the ground and we are spending £120 million in ODA. On Saturday, I spoke to the Chadian Government about ensuring that the crossings remain open for refugees. We will continue to work with our partners and allies to get the focus on this conflict, where it really needs to be.

[Lord Hussain (LD)]

My Lords, I am one of those parliamentarians who had the chance of visiting Sudan and El Fasher some nine years ago as part of the parliamentary group led by the late Lord Sheikh. One of the things which inspired me to go there and find out more was that the information that we were getting in the Chamber in those days was that Omar Bashir’s air force was regularly killing so many people every week in that region. Once we got to Khartoum, we made a special request to go to El Fasher, in Darfur, and find out exactly what was going on. We spoke to the UN mission in Darfur, and what was surprising was that the information that we received there did not tally with the information that we were getting here. We raised it with our high commissioner there at the time and with the Government there. When we came back, the visiting group wrote a big report and submitted it to the Foreign Office, asking where the disparity in the information was coming from. With that backdrop, all I am asking today is whether we are making sure that the information we are getting is correct.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

That is a very good question. Information is very difficult to obtain. There are few, if any, journalists in Sudan now, and the information that we do get is difficult to verify. The noble Lord is absolutely right to raise that. What we do have is the first-hand accounts of those who have managed to escape, and their testimonies are harrowing to hear. As the truth emerges, I think the world will be horrified at what it is. We are hearing reports already, which we have confidence in, of what has happened in El Fasher, particularly at the hospital, and these are by far the most disturbing accounts that I have ever had to consider.