Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard the United National Security Council Resolution 2736 on 13 June 2024 calling for an end to the siege of El Fasher, and the statement by the Foreign Secretary on 13 August condemning the atrocities by the Rapid Support Forces, what steps they are taking (1) to ensure the safe delivery of food and medical supplies to civilians, (2) to press for accountability for sexual and gender-based violence identified by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, and (3) to strengthen the Sudan sanctions regime, including measures to curb the supply of arms, drones and mercenaries.

The crimes committed in Sudan demand accountability. This is why, as a member of the Human Rights Council Core Group for Sudan, the UK led the establishment of the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in October 2023. We are currently working with partners to secure an extension to its mandate in October. The FFM is essential if the facts concerning alleged violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law are to be thoroughly investigated. This year, the UK is also supporting the deployment of a specialist sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) investigator to the FMM. This contribution ensures expert input on SGBV to strengthen accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Sudan. Beyond the UN, the UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court's ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, including SGBV and CRSV.

As UN Security Council (UNSC) penholder on Sudan we have negotiated products calling for all member states to abide by their obligations under the Darfur arms embargo, first imposed in July 2004. This month, we worked closely with the US and UNSC members to renew the UNSC arms embargo regime. The UK proposed language to strengthen the regime, expressing concern about conflict related sexual violence (CRSV). This was incorporated into the text, and the resolution was subsequently adopted by consensus. As a permanent member of the UNSC, the UK also supported the imposition of UN sanctions on two Rapid Support Forces (RSF) generals for their crimes against civilians in Darfur in November 2024. In addition, there is a longstanding UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, the UK has also frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the warring parties. Although we do not speculate on future sanctions designations as it would undermine their effectiveness, our sanctions policy is continually under review.