Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to give voice to a passionate plea from the Sudanese community in my home state of Queensland. There is a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan. The conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has displaced 11 million people. Millions are suffering from malnutrition; 25 million are suffering from acute hunger. Every member of the Sudanese Community Association of Queensland has been impacted. Their stories are heartbreaking. I quote from one:

I lost my mother and 3 siblings to this catastrophic war. My elderly mother and 3 siblings felt unsafe to leave Khartoum … I remember the last day I spoke to my mother I begged her multiple times to leave … the next morning I got a call saying your mother and siblings died in an airstrike attack. All I can remember from that moment is that I screamed and fainted.

I've received many stories of a similar nature from members of our Sudanese community, and I will be providing them to the foreign affairs minister. I call upon the government to listen to the pleas of the Queensland Sudanese community. I call upon the government to do all it can through international forums to promote a cessation of hostilities in Sudan and to increase humanitarian aid. I call upon the government to support our Australian-Sudanese community to deal with the trauma they are suffering. Let all senators be aware of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan and the devastating impact it is having on our beautiful Australian-Sudanese community.