Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I welcome this opportunity to provide an update to the House on the devastating conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and to hear the views and concerns of Deputies. Many have described the conflict and its impact as a forgotten crisis. In truth, it is has at times been an ignored and sidelined crisis. It is, as we heard this morning, the worst humanitarian catastrophe happening on our planet at the moment. It is welcome that we are having these statements and this prioritisation here today.

I sincerely welcome the sustained interest shown by Members of the Oireachtas. It sends a very important message that this crisis and the plight of the Sudanese people cannot be ignored. It also reinforces the Government's commitment to keeping Sudan on the international agenda at EU level and at the United Nations. It has been over four years since the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, and the Sudanese Armed Forces forcibly halted Sudan's democratic transition and more than two years since conflict erupted, in April 2023, after a brutal power struggle between them. Sudan's conflict is labelled as a civil war, yet the millions of civilians caught between the parties to the conflict, including breakaway armed groups, did not choose to fight each other. Instead, they have been forced to bear the cost of this violent power struggle.

In reality, this has always been a preventable crisis. The conflict has been significantly inflamed and prolonged by foreign interference. It is causing a humanitarian catastrophe exacerbated by the restrictions imposed on humanitarian access to people in need by the parties to the conflict. The conflict has resulted in untold suffering for the Sudanese people, with more than 150,000 people already dead. This is the world's worst humanitarian and protection crisis, with over 12 million people forcibly displaced. Over 21 million people, a shocking 45% of the population, are facing crisis levels of hunger. Famine, which was declared in parts of Darfur in 2024, has now been confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli, with over 20 other areas across greater Darfur and greater Kordofan also at risk.

Women and girls have been disproportionately affected. There has been an alarming spike in sexual violence in recent weeks as civilians have fled El Fasher, with egregious accounts of rape, human trafficking, forced marriage and sexual slavery. Sexual assault has been very much weaponised in this instance. These numbers are staggering, but it is important to remember that behind every statistic is a person, a family and a community. These are real people whose suffering cannot be captured by statistics alone. As my colleague reiterated this morning, there are many people in this country whose family members and communities are caught up in the ongoing conflict.

I am appalled by, and strongly condemn, the targeting of civilians by both parties to the conflict, particularly the recent horrifying and brutal atrocities committed by the RSF following its takeover of the city of El Fasher on 26 October. The RSF systematically targeted civilians during the siege and after the city’s fall, committing large-scale, ethnically motivated atrocities, including summary executions, the arbitrary detention of civilians and the use of sexual and gender-based violence and starvation as weapons of war.

Too many of those who were trapped in El Fasher are still unaccounted for. Ireland's humanitarian partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee, are on the ground and reporting regularly to us on efforts being made to support the population. Our Irish NGO partners are also supporting people in need in Darfur with essential life-saving aid. Many Deputies will have seen or read shocking accounts of those who did manage to flee and the violence which they experienced or witnessed in their flight to safety. The scale of violence is unimaginable and, unfortunately, part of a widespread pattern of harm against civilians in this conflict. These actions are unconscionable and we must do everything in our power to ensure that they stop.

The capture of El Fasher, the last stronghold of the SAF in Darfur, consolidates the RSF's control over that region.

This increases the risk of Sudan's fragmentation between east and west and the potential for the partition of the country. The territorial unity and integrity of Sudan must be respected and partition must be avoided. Currently, the SAF holds Sudan's central and eastern regions, while the RSF controls Darfur and most of the Kordofans, which now form the conflict's new front line. Alarmingly, violence continues to escalate in north Darfur and the Kordofans, further exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. The cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan are currently under siege by RSF forces and El Obeid in North Kordofan is at risk of an all-out assault. Reports indicate that civilians along these emerging front lines are subject to similar horrors as those experienced during the battle for El Fasher. Throughout this war, control of territory has shifted repeatedly and with each shift, we witness a familiar pattern of widespread human rights and humanitarian abuses and violations, mass displacement and a rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

We in the international community cannot stand back and watch as the suffering of the Sudanese people continues. We have witnessed the shocking and deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. In addition, both warring parties are shrinking the humanitarian space further by imposing bureaucratic impediments in an attempt to assert authority and consolidate control. This puts humanitarian actors in a difficult position, as compliance with one party can jeopardise operations in the other’s territory.

I acknowledge the local responders on the ground who are operating in hard-to-reach areas, often at immense personal risk. They form the backbone of aid efforts. They have shown unwavering courage and selfless dedication in serving their communities. Local community groups, often led by women, have carried on traditions of supporting one another even in the darkest times. We in turn are doing what we can to support their efforts. There are extensive and well-established rules on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, humanitarian access, the protection of humanitarian personnel and the protection of the sick and wounded and those caring for them. Yet we have seen time and again a blatant disregard for these international and legally binding humanitarian norms in this conflict.

A dangerous technology and arms race is intensifying the conflict between the SAF and RSF, with dire consequences for Sudanese civilians. Both sides are employing increasingly sophisticated drone strikes to target civilian areas and infrastructure, a direct violation of international law. For instance, the RSF launched drone attacks on Khartoum and Port Sudan earlier this year. The SAF has similarly used drones to hit targets in Darfur, resulting in civilian deaths and casualties and causing damage to critical civilian infrastructure. The extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including energy, food, water and sanitation systems, deprives people of the services essential to their survival. This is why we fully support the critical infrastructure initiative, led by the EU and the EU special representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber. Ireland has consistently highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis, the critical levels of hunger and famine, the need for unhindered humanitarian access, and the profound impact of the conflict, in particular on women and girls. It is vital we continue to shine a light on this crisis. It must not slip back down the international community’s agenda until the next El Fasher occurs.

On support to address the crisis, Ireland's sustained and substantial humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan remains at the core of our response. We have provided €14.3 million in humanitarian assistance to support civilians in Sudan and those in neighbouring countries displaced by the crisis. In the current global crisis of funding cuts to humanitarian aid budgets, I assure the House that Ireland will remain steadfast in maintaining our focus on reaching the furthest behind first. Our assistance is delivered through a range of international, Irish and local partners, providing urgent humanitarian relief to the most affected communities and those forced to flee across borders. Many of our multilateral partners, including UN agencies and global funds such as the Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, to which Ireland provides core, pre-positioned funding to enable swift action, have provided significant funding to Sudan this year. UN CERF has provided $47 million in 2025 to support the people of Sudan. Ireland is the seventh largest donor to the CERF and has provided €15 million this year alone. Ireland is known for its strong and principled tradition of humanitarian assistance, its sustained support for less visible crises and its track record of providing steadfast, quality funding, with a focus on reaching the most vulnerable. This matters to our partners as it supports effective delivery of aid to those who need it most in Sudan, its neighbouring countries and in other crises where conflict and climate have taken their toll.

On the political track, Ireland has taken a proactive stance within the EU and has consistently advocated for Sudan to remain high on the European agenda. We played a leading role in initiating discussions on sanctions in 2023, which led to the establishment of the EU sanctions regime, and in securing strong EU Council conclusions on Sudan in October this year. We also successfully called for Sudan to be placed on the agenda at this month’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, which I attended last Monday, with a focus on the implementation of the Council conclusions. The Council adopted restrictive measures against a senior RSF commander. We would welcome discussions on further sanctions in line with the Council conclusions, which state that the EU will continue to employ and, where possible, intensify the use of the full range of foreign policy instruments at its disposal, including, where appropriate, targeted restrictive measures to achieve a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

We are clear on our immediate priorities. Civilians must be protected, particularly women and girls who remain at grave risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Safe passage must also be provided as a matter of urgency for those fleeing violence. All parties to the conflict must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including the protection of front-line humanitarian actors and local responders. We need to do everything possible to ensure the protection of principled and depoliticised humanitarian space so that humanitarian assistance and services reach those in dire need. The parties to the conflict must facilitate rapid, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, particularly in the greater Darfur and greater Kordofan regions.

Another key priority for the Government is ensuring accountability and justice for the atrocities committed. It is crucial that we, the international community, collectively support efforts to document, investigate and address these crimes. To this end, Ireland continues to support the important work of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, IIFFM. We welcome the recent extension of its mandate and underline the need for all parties to the conflict to provide unhindered access to the fact-finding mission. Ireland supports expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, ICC, to the whole of Sudan, as recommended by the fact-finding mission. This is to ensure the perpetrators of international humanitarian and human rights violations and abuses across the country are held accountable and brought to justice. Ireland works closely with like-minded states to promote accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and to ensure that those responsible will be brought to justice. As a member of the Sudan core group in Geneva, Ireland led on the adoption of a resolution on the situation in El Fasher at the special session of the Human Rights Council, HRC, on 14 November. The resolution requests the fact-finding mission to conduct an urgent inquiry into the violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in and around El Fasher. The fact-finding mission must be fully supported in carrying out this vital work. We remain committed to ensuring that Sudan is consistently raised and addressed within the Human Rights Council and other multilateral forums. The environment of impunity in Sudan must end.

On the issue of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, there is a responsibility to prevent and investigate, and to hold perpetrators accountable for all forms of gender-based violence in conflict. There can be no impunity for these crimes. All justice and accountability processes must be survivor-centred and survivor-led. A survivor-centred approach must guide us. It must be one that listens to survivors, takes their experiences seriously and upholds their rights and needs. If we are to take seriously the fact we are on day 13 of 16 days of activism, when all individuals across the globe can highlight, raise and put a focus on domestic and sexual violence, we need to make sure, when we respond to incidents and atrocities like this, that we are taking serious action and putting survivors' needs front and centre.

Ultimately, there must be a durable peace if the humanitarian crisis and the immense suffering of the Sudanese people are to end. There has been renewed momentum internationally to push for a solution to the conflict, which is welcome. The Quad, comprising the USA, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, released a joint statement in September, following visits by the US President’s special adviser, Massad Boulos, to key countries in Africa. This created the impetus for a recent meeting in Washington focused on reaching agreement on a humanitarian truce. The RSF released a statement on 7 November agreeing to the proposal, although there appears to be a lack of any meaningful implementation thus far. Meanwhile, the SAF has rejected the proposal, vowing to continue its military campaign against the RSF.

We welcome the ongoing work of the Quad, including these efforts to negotiate a three-month humanitarian truce. Resolving this conflict requires significant and sustained political will. It is incumbent on all of us to redouble our efforts in support of the Sudanese people. There must be substantive political engagement and co-ordination between the EU, the African Union, AU, the Quad and other international actors on de-escalation and mediation efforts.

For this conflict to end, external interference and the provision of military support to the parties to the conflict must also cease. This was raised earlier this morning. The conflict would not have persisted if it was not being fuelled by arms and fighters from outside of Sudan. At the May 2025 meeting of the EU-Gulf Co-operation Council political committee, Ireland, speaking on behalf of the EU, stressed the need to use every influence to prevent external actors from providing arms to combatants and to unite in favour of peace. In the statement by the EU's High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy released this month, the EU reiterated the message set out clearly in the October Council conclusions on Sudan and called on all external actors to take the necessary measures to end the sale or supply of arms and related material to all parties, in accordance with the UN arms embargo. Ireland, with the EU, will continue to call for the expansion of the UN arms embargo on Darfur to the whole territory of Sudan.

Ireland remains committed to working with our EU partners and the international community to bring decisive pressure to bear on the warring parties to engage in genuine dialogue and agree to a sustained cessation of hostilities. This must be followed by a negotiated, permanent, peaceful and civilian-led political settlement that respects the territorial integrity of Sudan. This must include full, equal and meaningful participation of women, young people, marginalised groups and Sudanese civil society actors in the political process. Ireland and the EU are supportive of the African Union high-level panel and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, in facilitating a number of meetings of Sudanese civilian actors, providing that vital platform for civilian dialogue. I fundamentally believe that to have a stronger, more inclusive and more durable peace, a broad range of civil society actors must be meaningfully involved. Therefore, Ireland fully supports a continuation of this vital dialogue and any other efforts that aim to include a diverse range of civilian voices in discussions on ending this devastating conflict. Once peace is restored, we are committed to supporting a robust, Sudanese-led post-conflict recovery to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the people of Sudan.

However, we cannot wait for peace to act when it comes to addressing the humanitarian needs of Sudanese civilians. In the short to medium term, irrespective of any progress in peace negotiations, Ireland will continue to advocate for the de-politicisation of humanitarian assistance, the lifting of restrictions to allow for humanitarian access to reach those most in need, the safe passage of humanitarian workers and the protection of humanitarian space. Reaching those furthest behind first will continue to be our core guiding principle in providing humanitarian assistance to civilians in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. Sudan must not be forgotten, condemned to rise and fall on global news cycles, gaining visibility only in moments of catastrophe. We will continue and I, as Minister for foreign affairs, will continue to play a proactive role on the international stage, including at the EU level, in raising the plight of the Sudanese people.

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