Millions of people could starve to death in Sudan before Christmas, the Conservative Party has warned, while urging the Government to take “urgent” action on the conflict.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said 13 million could die amid the ongoing civil war in the East African country, where the Sudanese army has been fighting Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militants. ) from April 2023.

More than 10 million people have been displaced with reports of mass killings, widespread sexual violence against women and girls, and destruction of homes and livelihoods.

UNICEF said at least 124 people died in Al Jazirah state last week.

Mitchell (Con, Sutton Coldfield) said: “The war in Sudan represents the biggest humanitarian crisis, the biggest hunger crisis and the biggest displacement crisis in the world, but it has been almost completely ignored due to the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“In the 18 months since hostilities broke out, tens of thousands have died and more than 10 million people have been horribly displaced. This winter, 13 million face death from starvation.”

He said RSF’s actions, backed by Russia, were a “deliberate strategy to destroy a population based on their identity.”

Mitchell added: “As Christmas approaches, from the comfort of our homes, we will witness, in a world of plenty, the horrific specter of mass starvation. Urgent is an understatement. We must do more and act now.”

Foreign Secretary Anneliese Dodds (Lab, Oxford East) said: “The new Government is absolutely determined not to neglect this crisis. The word he just used was “horrible.” “That’s really the case.”

Dodds said the conflict was being carried out by two sides “for themselves, and definitely not for the people of Sudan, who are being held hostage by this.”

He added: “We are doing everything we can within the UN and also bilaterally to ensure that the UK is taking the lead in this horrendous situation.

“The Foreign Secretary I know has raised this repeatedly, as have I, in a wide range of different conflicts, including bilateral and multilateral.”

Liberal Democrat international development spokesperson Monica Harding urged the Government to introduce a UN Security Council resolution for safe zones as well as no-fly zones.

Mrs Dodds said: “You are absolutely right to underline the fact that we must see an end to hostilities.”

And he added: “The two parties in conflict seem to believe that they can win this war, they continue their hostilities, but the impact of this on the civilian population is extreme. “There must be an end to hostilities and the UK Government is doing everything it can to advocate for this.”