Sudan and Eastern DRC: Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament

The Foreign Secretary made a statement to the House of Commons on the situation in Sudan and Eastern DRC on 28 January.

"With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the situation in Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The latest conflict in Sudan has now lasted twenty-one months.

This weekend, the Rapid Support Forces attacked the last functional hospital in the besieged city of El-Fasher, in Darfur.

The World Health Organisation assess some seventy patients and their families were killed.

This attack is far from isolated.

In recent weeks, the RSF shelled the ZamZam camp, where displaced people are trapped outside El-Fasher.

While there are widespread reports of extrajudicial killings by militias aligned to the Sudanese armed forces in Wad Medani.

The Government condemns these attacks in the strongest possible terms.

They show a callous disregard for international humanitarian law and innocent Sudanese civilians.

Exact figures for those killed and displaced in Sudan are hard to come by.

But we know aid is being blocked from reaching those in need.

And this is without a shadow of a doubt one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes of our lifetimes.

I saw this for myself, Madam Deputy Speaker, last week in Adré, on the Chad-Sudan border.

This was the first ever Foreign Secretary to visit Chad.

I felt it was my duty to confront the true horror of what is unfolding.

To bear witness.

And raise up the voices of those suffering, mainly women, so horrendously.

88 per cent of the refugees at Adré are women and children.

I met nurses in a clinic, fighting to save the lives of starving children.

I met a woman who showed me her scars.

She had been burned.

She had been beaten.

She had been raped.

Turning to DRC, conflict there has gripped the east for over thirty years.

An M23 rebel offensive at the start of this year had already seized Masisi and Minova.

This weekend saw them enter Goma, the region's major city, which M23 last occupied in 2012.

Brave UN peacekeepers from South Africa, Malawi and Uruguay have tragically been killed.

And with hundreds of thousands having already fled M23 to Goma, there is potential for a further humanitarian catastrophe.

I have not yet travelled as Foreign Secretary to meet those fleeing Eastern DRC

But the reports speak for themselves.

This is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or girl with children as young as nine reportedly attacked and mutilated by machete-wielding militias. 

Around a quarter of DRC's population are facing acute food insecurity.

And frequent bombardment of the makeshift camps which shelter those who have fled their homes.

I regret to say, Madam Deputy Speaker, that Foreign Secretaries updating the House on conflicts in Africa is something of a rarity.

As I discussed yesterday with African Ambassadors and High Commissioners, the surge of conflict globally includes the number in Africa almost doubling in the past decade.

This is causing untold damage and holding back economic growth – the bedrock of our future partnership with African countries.  

But where is the outrage?

Again and again in Adré, I was asked:

What is the world doing to help us?

The truth is, if we were witnessing the horrors of El-Fasher and Goma on any other continent, or, for that matter, seeing the extremist violence in the Sahel and Somalia anywhere else in the world, there would be far more attention across the Western world.

Indeed, one recent survey of armed conflict in 2024 contained spotlights on Europe, Eurasia, Asia and the Americas, but none on Africa.

There should be no hierarchy of conflicts, but there is one.

Every human life is of equal worth.

The impact of these wars, Madam Deputy Speaker, is clear for all to see.

You only have to be willing to look.

I could not see atrocities such as these, and shrug my shoulders.

However, the House will also understand the UK's national interest in addressing these conflicts.

Irregular migration from Sudan to Britain alone increased by 16% last year. 

Unscrupulous smuggling gangs are looking to profit from the misery in places such as Sudan and DRC. 

And the longer these wars last, the greater their ripple effects.

Neighbours like Chad and many others are working hard to manage this crisis alongside others nearby.

But further escalation only increases instability and the risks of conflict elsewhere.

With Sudan sitting along the major trade routes of the Red Sea and eastern DRC one of the most resource-rich regions in the world.

This is something we cannot tolerate.

This Government therefore refuses to let these conflicts be forgotten.

Working with Sierra Leone, the UK prepared a UN Security Council Resolution on Sudan to address the humanitarian catastrophe.

Shockingly, despite support from every other member, including China, Russia wielded their veto.

But Russian cynicism will not deter us.

We will continue to use our Security Council seat to shine a light on what is happening and work with our African partners on broader UN reform.

We have also doubled UK aid, supporting over one million displaced people.

I saw our impact at the Adré crossing, and announced a further twenty million pounds to support food production and sexual and reproductive services.

The UK is the third largest humanitarian donor on the crisis, having offered almost 250 million pounds in support this financial year.

We have been redoubling our diplomatic efforts as well.

In the spring, I am looking to gather Ministers in the UK to galvanise international support for peace.

We need to see three things.

First, the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces committing a permanent ceasefire and protection of civilians.

Second, unrestricted humanitarian access into and within Sudan, and a permanent UN presence.

And finally, an international commitment to a sustained and meaningful political process.

Instead of new and even more deadly weapons entering the conflict, we want to see consistent calls for all political parties to unite behind a common vision of a peaceful Sudan.

We will engage with all those willing to work on bringing the conflict to an end.

On DRC, the UK, has also reacted quickly to the current crisis, we now advise British Nationals not to the Rubavu district in Western Rwanda on the border with Goma.

And we are continuing our humanitarian assistance , having provided 62 million pounds this financial year.

This enables lifesaving assistance such as clean drinking water, treatment for malnourished children, and support for victims of sexual violence.

Ultimately however, we need a political solution.

We know that M23 rebels could not have taken Goma without material support from Rwandan Defence Forces.

My Noble Friend, Lord Collins of Highbury, and I have been urging all sides to engage in good faith in African-led processes.

Lord Collins spoke to the Rwandan and Angolan Foreign Ministers last week.

And in the last few days, I have spoken to both Rwandan President Kagame and South African Foreign Minister Lamola.

For all the complexities of such a long-running conflict, we must find a way to stop the killing.

Madam Deputy Speaker, civilians in Sudan and eastern DRC must feel so powerless.

Power seems gripped by those waging war around them.

The Government, our partners, cannot simply will a ceasefire into being.

But this is not a licence for inaction.

As we have seen in Gaza, it can take hundreds of days of diplomatic failure to reach even the most fragile of ceasefires.

So for our part, Madam Deputy Speaker, the UK will keep doing all in our power to get the world focused on these conflicts.

And, somehow, to bring them to an end.

I commend this statement to the House."