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Freedom of Religion or Belief: Sudan

It is a particular pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. I am standing in for the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Chris Elmore), who sends his apologies that he cannot be here. I am sure he would be delighted to respond to this important debate raised by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who has already received many tributes from contributors. I know that, as long as he is in this House, the hon. Member will continue to raise this important issue and which affects many across the world, and will use his full strength of voice on their behalf. I am sure we are all grateful for that.

I thank hon. Members on all sides of the House for their thoughtful contributions. As ever, my beautifully named opposite number, the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp), rightly spoke of unity across all parties on this question. I will endeavour to go through all of the questions that have been raised.

I will briefly characterise the situation, although that has been done effectively by previous speakers, some of whom commented on their own connections to the area. As some of my colleagues may know, I lived in South Sudan for two years during a difficult period when many had been displaced from Sudan. A notable feature to me was that the nature of the violence in that part of the world has long been particularly extreme. Many hon. Members have already described it in graphic detail. I will not do the same, but it is foremost on the conscience of Foreign Office Ministers, as I know it is for right hon. and hon. Members on all sides of the House. The statistics are horrifying: 9 million people internally displaced and 4 million stranded on the borders of neighbouring countries. In the midst of all that, basic human rights, including the freedom to practise one’s faith or to hold no faith at all, have been not just stripped away, but used to target violence on specific communities.

The right to freedom of religious belief sits right at the heart of our UK human rights approach. As hon. Members are aware, last July the UK special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), set out the Government strategy on the issue. The strategy focuses on 10 countries, but that does not mean we look away from crises elsewhere—far from it. I know that he has focused on issues in Sudan as well.

Let me also briefly abuse my previous life to respond to the Liberal Democrat demand for an ambassador-level position. Having been a diplomat and a Member of this House, I assure the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) that having a special envoy rooted in this House is a powerful additional thing. We hear a voice with the authority not only of the Foreign Office but of this House when the envoy speaks, as my hon. Friend has on many occasions, including the appearance I just mentioned.