Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the extent of people smuggling and trafficking in (a) Sudan and (b) South Sudan.

Estimates of forced labour and people trafficking in Sudan and South Sudan continue to be high. Sudan and South Sudan are ranked joint 6^th out of 167 countries for the highest proportion of the population experiencing forced labour and trafficking.

The UK Government is committed to the eradication of all forms of people trafficking and the worst forms of child labour by 2030, as unanimously adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. The Prime Minister has pushed the UN and the international community to step up efforts, most recently by convening leaders to launch a Call to Action to end such exploitation, which has now been endorsed by over 50 states. The Prime Minister has also committed to doubling UK aid spend to £150 million to tackle the drivers of trafficking.