British House of Lords speak about Sudan

On January 7, 2010, the British House of Lords (the upper house) listened to various members for two hours on a debate initiated by Baroness Cox, who has a longstanding interest in the well being of Sudan. The debate served to get on record the latest information about the situation in Sudan; one of the government ministers is going to visit Sudan.

Our interest here at Adroub.net is to note that they briefly mentioned the plight of the Beja people.

Baroness Cox said,

Other marginalised peoples continue to suffer humanitarian crises. For example, the plight of the Beja people in eastern Sudan remains so serious that the southern Sudanese, whose own predicament is dire, undertook an investigation and claimed that the Beja people's plight is even worse than their own. Can the Minister say whether EU and DfID funding therefore includes appropriate weighting to provide essential assistance to those all too often forgotten people in the marginalised areas?

On the eve of the anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Treaty, the speakers reviewed many issues facing the south, the coming election, the need for roads and development and education, the impact of the Lords Resistance Army, the role of the church and the referendum of 2011.

This debate can provide you with an active understanding of what is going on in Sudan now. It's fairly long, but an excellent backgrounder.

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2010-01-07a.212.0