Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I raise with the Taoiseach the appalling catastrophe unfolding in Sudan. As the House may know, civil war has raged there for approximately two years, leaving 150,000 dead. Some 2 million refugees have left Sudan already, with millions displaced within the country, and the UN has declared famine in Darfur. It is the only place in the world where the organisation has declared a full-scale famine in quite some time. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world currently. It risks becoming a geopolitical crisis by destabilising neighbouring fragile states and may be the cause of the next major wave of migration towards Europe. I have two specific asks of the Taoiseach. I request that he speak about this and use his voice and Ireland’s voice at the United Nations to shine a light on the situation in Sudan and also that he requests it be discussed at the next European Council and that there be specific conclusions relating to Sudan calling for the arms embargo to be extended to all of the country and for aid to be made available to those who need it, and to support the development NGOs on the ground providing aid to those who need it in this really truly terrible, appalling crisis happening before our eyes, which is not getting the attention and notice it deserves.

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