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For Oral Answer on : 25/01/2024
Question Number(s): 22 Question Reference(s): 3377/24
Department: Foreign Affairs
Asked by: David Stanton T.D.
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QUESTION
To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to report on the current situation in Sudan; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
REPLY
I am deeply concerned by the severe humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sudan resulting from the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the so-called Rapid Support Forces. Since last April, over 7.6 million people have fled their homes and nearly 25 million people are in need of humanitarian aid and protection assistance. In late 2023, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide warned that that the risk of genocide was high, particularly in Darfur. A ceasefire is urgently needed.
Since April 2023, we have assisted more than 350 Irish citizens and their dependents to leave Sudan, and we continue to provide consular assistance through the Embassy in Kenya, which is accredited to Sudan.
Ireland has provided practical support to the people of Sudan, and is supporting diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the conflict.
In 2023, we provided over €7.9 million in humanitarian funding to partners responding to the Sudan crisis. This includes funding to the UN’s Sudan Humanitarian Fund and through NGOs. We have also provided over €1.5 million in direct funding to projects in South Sudan and Chad assisting Sudanese refugees who have had to flee their homes because of the conflict.
We have consistently emphasised the need for humanitarian access, a cessation of hostilities, and a clear role for civil society in Sudan’s political future. At meetings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council during 2023, the Tánaiste highlighted the heavy toll which the conflict was taking on civilians and called for additional sanctions to be considered. New EU sanctions were agreed in October 2023, in particular targeting those who attack civilians and obstruct humanitarian aid.
