UK faces 'migration time bomb' as horror war in Sudan will send refugees to Britain

Britain faces a "migration time bomb" as the collapse of Sudan in a brutal civil war threatens to create millions of refugees. The UK is to send £5million in aid to the stricken nation after the fall of the city of El Fasher brought scenes of horrifying atrocities. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned "mass executions, starvation and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war".

But the world's failure to end the suffering will have a direct impact on the UK, according to foreign policy expert Tobias Ellwood. The former army captain and ex-MP, who served as Minister for Africa in the Foreign Office, said Sudanese refugees would head to Britain because of our historic links with the country.

He said: "What began as a power struggle between two rival generals has spiralled into a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing millions and destabilising the wider Horn of Africa. Yet the international community, including Britain, has blinked. Letting this civil war escalate is creating a migration time bomb that will soon reach our shores.

"Why will fleeing families head here? Because we have deep history with Sudan. We used to run it. We shaped its early governance structures, institutions - and its borders. We developed its civil service and established schools and universities that once made Khartoum a centre of learning in East Africa."

He said the UK must take the lead in trying to bring stability to the country. "Sudan is not a distant tragedy; it is a test of whether Britain still has the will, and the wisdom, to lead.

"Fail that test, and our migration challenge here will only grow."

El Fasher, the last major city in the country's western Darfur region, was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) this week, leading to reports of ethnically-targeted killings, sexual violence and starvation.

Some 260,000 people, half of them children, are now said to be trapped in the city.

The RSF has been waging a civil war against the Sudanese government since 2023 and has been accused of multiple human rights violations over the course of the conflict.

Ms Cooper warned women and children were "bearing the brunt of the largest humanitarian crisis in the 21st century".

The UK will provide £5 million for emergency food supplies and medical care, with £2 million focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence, she said.

Speaking at a conference in Bahrain, the Foreign Secretary joined with her counterparts from Germany and Jordan in calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Ms Cooper said: "In Sudan right now, there is just despair.

"And just as the combination of leadership and international co-operation has made progress on Gaza, it is currently failing to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the devastating conflict in Sudan."

Last year, the UK sanctioned a number of companies linked to both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces in an attempt to bring about a negotiated end to the war.

On Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty declined to comment on future sanctions, but said they would be kept "under review".

He also acknowledged reports that "UK-made items" had been found in Sudan, but said there was no evidence of British weapons or ammunition being used in the country in breach of an arms embargo.