Statement by Ambassador at the UN Security Council
meeting on Sudan.
Thank you Presidency, and once again I thank
Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo and Director Wosornu for her
briefing, and now I have the pleasure of thanking his Excellency
Mr Ibn Chambas for his briefing and also for underling to us the
value of AU-UNSC cooperation.
I would like to make three points that are grounded in the
aspirations of the Sudanese people, the suffering they endure,
and their hopes for a peaceful future.
First, this week marked five years since the Sudanese people
demonstrated their aspirations for self-determination when their
protests ended decades of dictatorship.
These hopes have been dashed by the Rapid Support Forces and
Sudanese Armed Forces.
Second, Sudan is now in the grip of the world's worst hunger and
displacement crisis. Deliberate obstruction and targeting
of aid convoys is preventing life-saving supplies from reaching
those most in need.
Civilians are being murdered, women and girls are being raped.
Villages are being looted and burned to the
ground.
Through Resolution 2724 this Council joined the UN
Secretary-General, the African Union, and the League of Arab
States to call on the warring parties to silence the guns during
the Holy Month of Ramadan. But they ignored this united
international call for peace and inflicted further hardship on
the Sudanese people.
The United Kingdom is also concerned by the growing tensions in
El-Fasher. The humanitarian consequences of full-scale
conflict in and around the city would be catastrophic.
We call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces and
also armed movements present in the city to take measures to
de-escalate and we underline all parties' obligations under
international humanitarian law, including to protect
civilians.
Third, it is not too late for Sudan to return from the
brink. For this to happen, we need first, the warring
parties should return to negotiations including through the
Jeddah process, to agree a durable ceasefire, and support a
political process designed to restore civilian rule.
The Sudanese authorities need to uphold their commitments to
facilitate crossline and cross-border humanitarian access, and
immediately restore the vital Adre border route.
Third, external actors providing material support to either
warring faction are prolonging the bloodshed. Those who have
influence with the warring parties need to use this
constructively, to bring them to the negotiating table.
President, as we announced at the Paris conference, the United
Kingdom will double its humanitarian aid to almost $110 million
in the next year. But without sustained humanitarian
access, it will not reach those most in need, nor help to avert
famine.
This anniversary is an unacceptable milestone in an unjustifiable
conflict. We once again call on the warring parties to end
the fighting now, to remove barriers to humanitarian delivery,
and to engage in a political process.
