Conflict in Ethiopia

Alyn Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Westminster Hall

[Alyn Smith (Stirling) (SNP)]

Having spent as long as I did in the European Parliament, where 90 seconds was a long speech, I am well used to brevity, Sir Gary. I congratulate the hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) on securing a debate on this important issue. I am glad that we all welcome the ceasefire and peace agreement in Tigray. Brokered by the African Union, it has been a real achievement for the South Africans. We should give them their due in this; it was in danger of becoming a frozen conflict before their involvement. African diplomacy has gone a long way towards resolving the conflict.

With the Minister in his place, we should look towards the future and what we can do to help the people of the region enjoy a durable peace. I will focus on the durability of the agreement that has been struck, the accountability for crimes and justice for victims, and the food insecurity that I am deeply concerned will set the conditions for a relapse into further violence in the region.

The durability of the agreement was hard won. Even as the ceasefire was being announced, one side referred to the “terrorist” Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and the other side to the “fascist clique”. Eritrea was not a formal signatory to the agreement, but it clearly was involved. We have not seen any disarmament thus far under article 6 of the agreement. What assessment have the UK Government made of the prospects for disarmament on the ground, particularly in terms of how the verification of the withdrawal of the Eritrean forces is going to be checked? We have already heard concerns about the access of international observers. What sort of access are we going to be pushing for to verify that the agreement, particularly article 6, is being implemented?

We are all united in believing that accountability for war crimes is integral for a just peace going forward. That is something that we really are in a position to assist with. It concerns me deeply that no side of the conflict has accepted that any war crimes were committed by their side. I am not sure the conditions for accountability and honesty are necessarily there yet. I can see why accountability would not be foreseen within a ceasefire agreement, but surely the international community cannot lose sight of the need for accountability mechanisms.

Again, I ask what the UK Government are doing to assist those accountability mechanisms. The African Union is doing a great deal of work on that, as are the UN authorities, but their access has been hindered. That can be usefully taken forward by the UK Government to ensure access and give financial support—even in terms of lending personnel to the investigators. Those war crimes need to be properly explored and people held to account.

On food insecurity, the point is wider than just Tigray, Ethiopia or the horn of Africa, but the numbers facing food insecurity in that region are very stark. According to the World Food Programme, there are 13 million people across northern Ethiopia alone who are in real danger of food insecurity, including 5.4 million people in Tigray, 7 million in Amhara and 1.2 million in Afar. There are millions of people in real danger of starvation right now. Aid was not able to get through, but now it is, which is one of the big advantages of this ceasefire.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has classified Ethiopia as a whole at its highest alert level for hunger and starvation. That is a real challenge to the international community and a challenge, as well as an opportunity, to the UK Government to step up. Now that aid can get through, we all need to consider how we can best help to prevent the conditions for a relapse into violence from occurring.

The Minister well knows the SNP position on the return to the 0.7% aid criteria; he has his own well-documented thoughts on that. I appreciate that he has collective responsibility today, but surely in the case of Ethiopia and the horn of Africa there is a real need for more aid than we have seen. As well as reinstating the 0.7% aid—and even if we are short of that—I would make a plea today for increased UK Government aid, particularly to combat food insecurity in that region. I would be glad to hear about that. Otherwise, I fear that the conditions exist for the bad guys to come back. The peace is fragile. Of course the agreement is significant, but it needs help, and I think we are all united in that effort.