Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Sudan is burning—bloodstains seen from space, hundreds of mothers murdered in a maternity hospital and thousands of civilians killed and displaced as RSF paramilitary forces backed by the UAE stormed the city of Al-Fashir last week. Twenty years on from the last genocide in Darfur, our so-called leaders have again failed an entire generation, allowing the UAE to fuel a genocide so they can continue to steal Darfur's significant gold deposits.

We were warned. The nightmare we are seeing was repeatedly predicted by Sudanese advocates on the ground, who begged for urgent action from the international community to prevent a massacre. But, for Western powers, maintaining good relations with the UAE and their stranglehold over Sudan's resources has taken priority over the people of Darfur. Like in most genocides, the West is not only complicit but an active driver of the conflict. We know the UAE smuggles weapons manufactured in the West into Sudan, which end up arming genocide. Meanwhile our own government, rather than cutting trade ties and imposing sanctions on the UAE for funding and arming another genocide, instead celebrates the booming trade relationship. This is indefensible. This Labor government must immediately cut trade ties and impose sanctions on the UAE, urgently open humanitarian pathways for refugees and provide support and assistance to our Sudanese community. I stand with the people of Sudan. Our struggle is one struggle, and their fate is our own.