Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the mass protests in Nertiti in Central Darfur, Sudan, and (2) the calls of protestors to the government of Sudan to put in place protective measures against attacks by raiding militia.

We are closely monitoring events in Central Darfur. The UK supports Prime Minister Hamdok's commitment to secure a sustainable peace agreement that in the long term will help end conflict. We welcome progress to date in the Juba-based talks between the Government of Sudan and armed opposition groups, which once finalised should begin to address conflict and violence in Darfur, as well as demands made by protesters such as the appointment of civilian state governors. We do however remain concerned by incidents of violence in Darfur and continue to urge the Government of Sudan to provide protection of civilians, working with the UN/AU peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to do so. We continue to put the protection of civilians at the heart of our work on the future UN presence in Sudan, including during UN Security Council negotiations in May to establish the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission that will support Sudan's transition, and the renewal of UNAMID's current mandate.