Labour stands united for peace and justice. Yesterday, I sat alongside David Lammy as we addressed the heart-breaking crises in Sudan and the DRC.

Labour stands united for peace and justice.

Yesterday, I sat alongside David Lammy as we addressed the heart-breaking crises in Sudan and the DRC.

These situations demand urgent international action. Labour is committed to standing with those suffering, pushing for an end to the violence, and ensuring humanitarian aid reaches those in need.

Together, we fight for a world where every life is valued equally. 🌍

See David's Statement below:

With permission, Mr 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 assesses 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 disturbing 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 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.

This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes of our lifetimes. I saw this for myself, Mr Speaker, last week in Adré, on the Chad-Sudan border. This was the first ever Foreign Secretary visit to Chad. I felt a duty to confront the true horror of what is unfolding. To bear witness. And raise up the voices of those suffering so terribly.

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. And she had been raped.

Turning to DRC, conflict 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 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, Mr 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 global conflict 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 and 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, Mr Speaker, is clear for all to see. You only have to be willing to look. I could not face atrocities like these and shrug my shoulders.

However, the House will also recognise 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 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 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 crisis. 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’s happening and work with our African partners on broader UN reform.

We have also doubled UK aid to Sudan, supporting over one million displaced people. I saw our impact at Adré and announced a further twenty million pounds to support food production and sexual and reproductive services. The UK is the third largest 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 to 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 consistent calls for all political parties to unite behind a common vision for a peaceful Sudan.

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

On DRC, the UK has also reacted quickly to the current crisis. We now advise British nationals not to travel to Rubavu District in western Rwanda, on the border with Goma. 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.

Mr Speaker, civilians in Sudan and eastern DRC must feel powerless. Power seems gripped by those waging war around them.

The Government, our partners, we cannot simply will a ceasefire into being. But this is not a licence for inaction.

As with Gaza, it can take hundreds of days of diplomatic failure to reach even the most fragile of ceasefires. So for our part, Mr Speaker the UK will keep doing all in our power to focus the world on these conflicts.

And, somehow, to bring them to an end.