The Foreign Secretary has issued a statement following reports of violence in and around El Fasher, Sudan.
Foreign Secretary, David Lammy said:
The reports of violence in and around the city of El Fasher are appalling.
Last week, the UK gathered the international community in London to call for an end to the suffering of the Sudanese people. Yet some of the violence in Darfur has shown the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing and may amount to crimes against humanity. Both sides must de-escalate urgently in Darfur and implement UNSCR2736, which calls on the RSF to halt its siege of El Fasher and bring an immediate stop to the fighting.
The UK will continue to use all tools available to us to us to hold those responsible for atrocities to account.
The warring parties have a responsibility to end this suffering. There are no exceptions to the laws of war: both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces agreed at Jeddah to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.
It is their responsibility to enforce these commitments, through command and control of their fighters and aligned militias. The RSF must immediately cease attacks on civilians, and the SAF and allied Joint Forces must allow safe passage for civilians to reach safety.
Hundreds of thousands have been displaced; yet many more in Zamzam IDP camp and El Fasher are being blocked from fleeing this violence by the warring parties. They must be free to seek safety wherever they think best and be protected as they do so.
The warring parties must give humanitarian actors the security guarantees needed to deliver aid rapidly, safely and at scale, including through a 72-hour pause in fighting. This must be through transparent notification of movement, rather than permission, throughout North Darfur and beyond.
