The UK uses its position as penholder at the UN Security Council on Sudan to increase pressure on the warring parties. On 8 March, the UNSC adopted UK-drafted Resolution 2724 calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access. On 27 February, we called for the Council to convene for a closed consultation responding to SAF withdrawing permission for the movement of aid into Sudan from the Adre border crossing. On 20 March, we also highlighted the OCHA White Note's clear warning that obstruction of humanitarian access is resulting in people in Sudan starving. On 19 April, the UK also called for an open briefing on the situation to mark the one-year point in the conflict at the UNSC.

The UK provided £42.6 million in humanitarian aid to support people in Sudan in 2023-2024, including £12.2 million to UNICEF for nutrition activities and approximately £23 million to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund for multisector response, including a high proportion of food security interventions. We also helped those fleeing to neighbouring countries in 2023-24, with £7.75 million to support existing and new Sudanese refugees as well as vulnerable returnees and host communities in South Sudan and £15 million to those in Chad. In 2024/2025, UK ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million, including funding to UNICEF to provide emergency and life-saving food assistance. The UK will also be working with the World Food Programme to assist in the provision of assorted food commodities to people in Sudan.

The UK has pressed the warring parties to agree to a permanent ceasefire, to protect civilians and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, both cross-line and cross-border, so that aid can reach people in desperate need. On 8 March, the UK-led UN Security Council Resolution 2724 called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access. We welcome unified international messaging at the Paris Pledging Conference on 15 April - at which the UK was represented by the Minister of State for FCDO and DEFRA - as well as plans to re-start Jeddah talks in the next weeks to maintain pressure on the warring parties to facilitate cross-line and cross-border humanitarian access and a permanent ceasefire.

The UK condemns the lack of humanitarian access into and across Sudan, as a result of the actions of the parties to the conflict. Lack of security remains the biggest constraint for international agencies and national NGOs seeking to deliver much-needed life-saving assistance. We continue to raise humanitarian access, including bureaucratic and administrative impediments, with the warring parties, our international partners and in international fora such as the UN.

The UK condemns the lack of humanitarian access into and across Sudan, as a result of the actions of the parties to the conflict. Lack of security remains the biggest constraint for international agencies and national NGOs seeking to deliver much-needed life-saving assistance. We continue to raise humanitarian access, including bureaucratic and administrative impediments, with the warring parties, our international partners and in international fora such as the UN.

My right hon. Friend is entirely right. We have recently contributed £600,000 to open-source investigative reporting to verify and preserve information on attacks on civilians and breaches of international humanitarian law. As she will know, we are providing £22 million of support for Sudan—£5 million was announced recently to help people who have gone across the border into Chad and South Sudan. She will also know that something like 19 humanitarian workers have been murdered, but we are doing everything we can to try to get aid and help in.

In response to the ongoing conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, on 12 July I announced a package of six sanctions under the UK's Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. The UK has imposed an asset freeze on three commercial entities linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and three commercial entities linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the two main parties to the conflict. These sanctions, which target entities which the SAF and RSF have used to support their war efforts, are designed to press the parties into a permanent ceasefire, allow unfettered humanitarian access and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.

In response to the ongoing conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, on 12 July I announced a package of six sanctions under the UK's Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. The UK has imposed an asset freeze on three commercial entities linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and three commercial entities linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the two main parties to the conflict. These sanctions, which target entities which the SAF and RSF have used to support their war efforts, are designed to press the parties into a permanent ceasefire, allow unfettered humanitarian access and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.

There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which we renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. These regimes have been used to constrain the flow of weapons into the country and support efforts to stop those who pose a threat to stability in Darfur. The UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur will be reviewed by September 2024.

In response to the outbreak of conflict on 15 April, the FCDO created an enhanced Sudan Unit, bringing in a range of specialist, including on humanitarian, conflict, and justice-related issues. The FCDO also regularly engages with a range of partners on the current issues facing Sudan. This includes engagement with the Sudanese diaspora community, NGOs, academics, domestic stakeholders and both international and regional partners on topics including conflict, atrocity prevention, human rights, and humanitarian assistance. These engagements have created opportunities for knowledge-sharing and for the UK to support international efforts to secure the permanent cessation of hostilities and a return to peace and stability in Sudan.

The UK's top humanitarian priority for Sudan is to secure improved access and security guarantees for humanitarian agencies, whose operations are highly constrained by insecurity and restrictions on the movements of humanitarian aid and relief workers. The UK is working closely with the UN, neighbouring countries, donors and humanitarian agencies to put pressure on the warring parties to abide by their commitments under international humanitarian law and to allow lifesaving aid to reach those in need.  FCDO officials meet regularly with UN counterparts to discuss the present humanitarian challenges in Sudan.

The UK believes the African Union is best placed to coordinate an African-led international response to the crisis in Sudan. As a member of the African Union-led Core Group, the UK is working with regional and international partners to end hostilities in Sudan, push for urgently needed humanitarian access, particularly in Khartoum and Darfur, and to secure a viable peace process, including support for the emergence of an all-inclusive civilian and political platform for dialogue on a future vision for Sudan. We will continue to pursue all diplomatic avenues to secure an end to the violence, protection of civilians and humanitarian access. We urge both parties to the conflict to engage in an inclusive dialogue that will deliver a political transition to a democratic process as called for by the Sudanese people.

In response to the ongoing conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, I announced on 12 July a UK package of six sanctions under the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. We are freezing the assets of three commercial entities linked to each party involved in the conflict: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These sanctions, which target entities which the SAF and RSF have used to support their war efforts, are designed to press the parties to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, allow humanitarian access and to commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities.

We are pursuing all diplomatic avenues, including at the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, and through cooperation with counterparts from African, Quad (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America) and European countries, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations, to end the violence in Sudan. We are also working through a new African Union-led Core Group to ensure inclusive regional and international action to secure a viable peace process. On 12 July, we announced a package of six sanctions under the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, freezing the assets of three commercial entities linked to each party involved in the conflict. These sanctions target entities which the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have used to support their war efforts and are designed to press the parties to allow humanitarian assistance, end the violence and engage in a meaningful and sustained progress to peace. We will continue to use all our diplomatic levers to urge regional and external actors to support international efforts to bring the warring parties back to the negotiating table and end the conflict.

Student visa applications for Chevening scholars will be considered on their individual merits and in line with immigration rules.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office have confirmed that Sudanese nationals who have been offered a Chevening award for the 2023-24 academic year and are unable to take up the scholarship due to the conflict and travel restrictions are able to defer their award to the 2024-25 academic year.

My right hon. Friend, who knows a lot about the subject, can rest assured that we are looking at all possible sanctions and other measures that we can take. She refers to humanitarian access. She will know that 15 humanitarian workers have been murdered during the course of the violence, but we will do everything that we can to ensure that what she wants to see happen happens.

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; the situation is simply appalling. The head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is expecting to be in the region within the next day or so. The essential fact that is required is a ceasefire. Without a ceasefire, the consequences— particularly the humanitarian consequences—are unconscionable.