Our immediate objective is to stop the violence through securing ceasefires, humanitarian corridors and protection of civilians. We are pursuing all diplomatic avenues to end the violence and de-escalate tensions. The Foreign Secretary and I [Minister Mitchell] are regularly in touch with international partners to engage all parties in Sudan.We strongly support the US-led 72 hour ceasefire initiative. Statements from across the international community continue to call for an end to hostilities, including a UK-led UN Security Council statement. The Foreign Secretary and I [Minister Mitchell] have held calls with key partners to discuss the situation and coordinate international response - including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, regional groupings and the UN Security Council. We are working closely with officials on the ground to establish facts and call on all sides of the conflict to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access.

Our priority is to end the violence and de-escalate tensions. The UK Government keeps all sanctions regimes under review, however we do not speculate on future designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

The Government is closely following events in Kazakhstan. We greatly regret the loss of life and injuries sustained as a result of recent unrest and condemn the violence and destruction of property that occurred, particularly in the city of Almaty. The reasons behind the violence remain unclear, although we note that President Tokayev has characterised what happened as an 'attempted coup'. We also take note of the President's decision to establish an investigative commission and await a full account of what led to these unprecedented events and loss of life. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State responsible for Human Rights, was assured by President Tokayev's Special Representative, Ambassador Kazykhan, that the work of the commission would be transparent and effective.

The Government's long-standing position is that legitimate protest must be peaceful and genuine grievances resolved through dialogue. We have called for law enforcement responses to be proportionate, and for freedom of speech and expression to be respected in line with Kazakhstan's international commitments. We will continue to underline these points in our engagement with the Kazakh government, as we seek to understand the chain of events and to ensure that human rights are upheld.

The conflict in South Sudan continues to drive the largest refugee crisis in Africa. Ongoing violence and the severe humanitarian crisis have forced nearly 2.5 million people to flee their homes to neighbouring countries. Through bilateral programmes and multilateral partners, the Department for International Development has provided lifesaving aid and livelihood support to South Sudanese refugees, including 950,000 refugees in Uganda; up to 150,000 in Sudan; and 100,000 in Kenya. DFID is also a significant contributor to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, providing £140 million of flexible funding from 2017-2021, which includes support for South Sudanese refugees who have fled to Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to support for South Sudanese refugees in the region, through our Humanitarian Response and Resilience in South Sudan (HARRIS) programme, DFID South Sudan is providing humanitarian and livelihoods support to 1.8 million people who have been internally displaced by ongoing violence.

On 3 July, I expressed my concern about the violence which took place in Mandalay, and called for restraint. The British Embassy in Rangoon has discussed the incident with the Government of Burma and we continue to monitor the situation. More broadly, we remain deeply concerned by the violence directed against Muslim and other minority groups in Burma and have been consistently clear that we look to the Government to ensure the security of all communities. Through the EU the UK is supporting a project to develop the capacity of the Burmese police force, including in Mandalay, so they are better trained to respond to such incidents in line with international standards. We are also providing funding to support organisations that run interfaith dialogue, which will be important in bringing communities together.