A reported massacre at a maternity hospital which is believed to have killed more than 460 people must be a “turning point” in the Sudan conflict, a former development minister has urged.
Anneliese Dodds warned of a “slow-motion Srebrenica” unfolding in Africa, referring to the genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the UK Government had called an emergency UN Security Council session later on Thursday, to “continue to maintain the spotlight on this situation” and to press the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to scale down their fighting.
“The scale of suffering in Sudan’s war on civilians is almost impossible to comprehend,” Ms Dodds told the Commons after she tabled an urgent question.
The Labour MP for Oxford East, who resigned from her Government role over international aid cuts, added there had been “consistent warnings that if the international community did not act, we would see effectively a slow-motion Srebrenica”.
Referring to the alleged RSF attack at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in el-Fasher on Tuesday, Ms Dodds continued: “The idea that 460 people could have been slaughtered in a maternity hospital – patients, their companions and medical staff – surely must be a turning point in this war and the international community’s focus on it.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has condemned the “reported killing of more than 460 patients and their companions, as well as the abduction of six health workers”, and warned of a “rapidly worsening crisis in North Darfur’s el-Fasher, where escalating violence, siege conditions and rising hunger and disease are killing civilians, including children, and collapsing an already-fragile health system”.
At the despatch box, Mr Doughty said: “The scale of suffering is unconscionable, often based on ethnicity, women and girls facing sexual and gender-based violence, and there is evidence mounting of defenceless civilians being executed and tortured, and indeed aid workers also being targeted as they tried to reach the most vulnerable communities facing famine.
“As the UN Security Council penholder, we have called an emergency council session later today to continue to maintain the spotlight on this situation and to build pressure on the RSF to de-escalate in line with UN Security Council resolution 2736.”
Asked to say what the Government would call for at the extraordinary security council session, Mr Doughty replied that the UK wanted “an immediate end to this violence, to ensure that international humanitarian law is respected and upheld, that sexual violence is brought to an end, and that we protect civilians in line with international law”.
He continued: “And of course, it is also crucial that we continue to support efforts for accountability for any of these atrocities, and particularly as evidence emerges, and we support the Centre for Information Resilience, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) looking to collate evidence of atrocities.
“And we will not rest until all evidence is collated and that action is taken to hold people accountable.
“Of course, we recently supported lobbying efforts to secure the mandate renewal of the UN factfinding mission at the UN Human Rights Council on October 6 for the third year running, and that is the only UN mechanism investigating human rights violations and abuse in Sudan, but of course, it’s not been allowed access by either side in this conflict, and therefore the situation to establish what is happening is incredibly difficult, but we are looking very carefully at all of the evidence.”
Mr Doughty added the UK takes “very seriously any allegations that any equipment may have been transferred to Sudan, in breach of our arms embargoes or conditions”.
His ministry was “in contact” with officials, he told MPs, and said it was important to “absolutely ensure that nothing is getting through which can facilitate these horrific scenes”.
Conservative shadow foreign minister Wendy Morton said: “The deliberate targeting of civilians including women and newborns is a disgrace.
“These latest atrocities underline the urgent need for renewed international resolve to protect civilians and ensure accountability for those responsible.”
Ms Morton asked whether Government would consider sanctions against members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which Mr Doughty said were being kept “under close review”.
The minister added that UK aid had supported more than 2.5 million people caught up in the conflict since fighting between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces began in 2023.
