Sudan: Protection of Civilians

Anneliese Dodds Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if she will make a statement on the UK’s activity to promote the protection of civilians, following a reported massacre at El Fasher’s Saudi maternity hospital.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)]

With your permission, Mr Speaker, before answering my right hon. Friend’s question, I will say a few words about Hurricane Melissa, which is currently a category 1 or 2 hurricane. It is passing through the Bahamas’ outer islands and is impacting our British overseas territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands. I have been in touch with the Governor and Premier in the last day. We have deployed response teams to the region and mobilised £2.5 million in emergency humanitarian aid to help Jamaica rebuild in the wake of this disaster, the full scale of which is only now becoming clear. I am sure that the House will concur with the words of His Majesty the King and all those who have sent their support and solidarity to all those affected, and will be thinking of those who have lost their life, not just in Jamaica, but in Haiti and other countries across the region.

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to ask this question. She will know of my keen interest in this issue over many years, including during the time in my career when I was working with Oxfam in her constituency on these issues, and with our late close friend, Jo Cox, on past atrocities and appalling situations in the conflict in Sudan. The reports of mass atrocities against civilians, and of the forced displacement caused by the Rapid Support Forces advances in El Fasher, are horrifying and deeply alarming. The scale of suffering is unconscionable. What is happening is often based on people’s ethnicity. Women and girls face widespread sexual and gender-based violence, and there is evidence mounting of defenceless civilians being executed and tortured, with aid workers also being targeted as they try to reach the most vulnerable communities facing famine.

As the United Nations Security Council penholder, we have called an emergency council session later today to maintain the spotlight on this situation, and to build pressure on the RSF to de-escalate, in line with UN Security Council resolution 2736. Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement condemning the killing of aid workers, including the executions reported in the Saudi maternity hospital, which was one of the last functioning facilities in El Fasher. That followed her statement on 27 October, which called on the RSF to protect civilians and urgently facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.

As the third-largest donor, we are mobilising £23 million of the £120 million announced in April to support the emergency humanitarian response in North Darfur. That will support those facing sexual violence, and go towards the delivery of lifesaving food and health assistance by partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and the Cash Consortium of Sudan.

As the Foreign Secretary said, the RSF leadership are responsible for the actions of their forces. All parties to the conflict must urgently act to protect civilians and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access. I can confirm that our special representative has been in contact with the RSF and Tasis to press for restraint and respect for international humanitarian law, and they are pressing for a call with Hemedti now.

[Anneliese Dodds]

Mr Speaker, I am very grateful to you for granting this urgent question. The scale of suffering in Sudan’s war on civilians is almost impossible to comprehend. A population the size of Australia’s are living in acute hunger. A population the size of London’s have been forced to flee their home. There are consistent reports of conflict-related sexual violence, and consistent warnings that if the international community do not act, we will effectively see a slow-motion Srebrenica. The Minister set out the reports of what may have happened at El Fasher’s maternity hospital yesterday evening; 460 people could have been slaughtered in a maternity hospital—patients, their companions and medical staff. This surely must be a turning point in the war, and for the international community’s focus on it.

The Minister talked about the special representative’s contact, but what specific conversations have the Foreign Secretary and Ministers had with their counterparts, particularly in the Quad countries—the United States said it wanted to take a leadership position on these issues—but also in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on the issue of civilian protection?

Secondly, I was pleased to hear that an emergency session of the Security Council has been called. What will the UK Government press other countries in the UN to commit to at that session? Thirdly, are the Government confident that the arms control export regime has been robust in this case, given recent reports?

What is the Government’s assessment of claims that El Fasher appears to be at the start of a systematic and intentional process of ethnic cleansing of Fur, Zaghawa and Berti indigenous communities, through forced displacement and summary execution? Finally, what are the Government doing to prevent what is happening in El Fasher from also happening in Tawila, to which so many thousands of terrified civilians have fled?

[Stephen Doughty]

I share my right hon. Friend’s outrage and horror at the reports we are receiving. We have made repeated calls for restraint on all sides in this conflict. We have shown leadership as the UN penholder, as one of the largest donors, through our work with partners, including those in the Quad, and through the work of our special representative. I know that she reflects the concerns of many Sudanese living in the United Kingdom, including in my constituency, about what is happening.

My right hon. Friend asked some specific questions. We are in regular contact with our partners in the Quad and engage with all the countries regularly at both ministerial and official level. Senior officials, including the special representative, are speaking on an ongoing basis and asking all parties to show restraint and to refrain from activity that prolongs the conflict.

My right hon. Friend asked about the situation in Tawila. We want to ensure that people are supported, particularly those who have fled. As I said, we have mobilised £23 million to support the emergency humanitarian response. I am happy to come back to her with further details.

My right hon. Friend asked about the position that we will take at the Security Council. It will be very much in line with the position we have taken throughout, which is to call for an immediate end to the violence and to ensure that international humanitarian law is respected and upheld, that sexual violence is brought to an end and that we protect civilians in line with international law.

It is crucial that we continue to support accountability efforts for such atrocities, particularly as evidence emerges. We support the Centre for Information Resilience and non-governmental organisations looking to collect evidence of atrocities. We will not rest until all evidence has been collated and action is taken to hold people accountable.

We recently supported, for the third year running, lobbying efforts to secure the mandate renewal of the UN fact-finding mission at the UN Human Rights Council on 6 October. That is the only UN mechanism investigating human rights violations and abuse in Sudan. As hon. Members will be aware, it has not been allowed access by either side in the conflict, so it is incredibly difficult to establish what is happening, but we are looking carefully at all the evidence.

My right hon. Friend asked about the importance of our export control regime. I confirm that we continue to emphasise to all parties the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. Indeed, we want to see people come to the negotiating table to seek a political resolution. We take seriously any allegation that any equipment may have been transferred to Sudan in breach of any of our arms embargoes or conditions. I assure her that I am in contact with our officials on these matters. We must absolutely ensure that nothing is getting in that could facilitate these horrific scenes. We share my right hon. Friend’s horror and will continue to play a leading role, including at the United Nations Security Council later today.