Tigray Province: Ceasefire Agreement

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, it is a real privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Boateng, and his words of caution from history should be listened to very carefully. I join him and others in commending the noble Lord, Lord Browne, for securing this exceptionally timely debate. While the speakers’ list is fairly short, the powerful and direct experience of those who have taken part is really impressive.

I declare that I have been on the Sudanese-Ethiopian border. Indeed, on a visit to the museum in Khartoum, I saw for myself how, for centuries, communities had lived together in harmony and in tolerance, and that it was not inevitable that there would be a crisis in this area. I also join the noble Lord, Lord Boateng, in recognising that there has been more quiet diplomatic work from the UN, USA and EU envoys, who have perhaps been more successful in securing this cessation, which I hope is sustainable. This is in addition, of course, to the work being done by the good offices of the Pretoria Government and President Ruto of Kenya. However, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, indicated, there has been deep history, deep division and deep wounds for many years in relations between the TPLF and the Ethiopian Government—as well as, as the noble Lord, Lord Alton, indicated, continuing concerns with Eritrea, which I will touch on in a moment.

The people across Ethiopia are suffering from conflict in the north and drought in the south, and this is compounding the situation of the economic crisis. As the noble Lord, Lord Browne, indicated, I would be grateful if the Minister could outline His Majesty’s Government’s view of the withholding of IMF support. There is concern that the rapid rise in fuel and food prices across the country is compounding the issue, so I would be grateful to know the Government’s position on the IMF situation.

Even as recently as the resumption of hostilities in August, there was an extra displacement of 574,000 people across Afar, Amhara and Tigray, and there was little assistance in funding available to them. As the noble Lords, Lord Alton and Lord Browne, indicated, there are concerns from the UN-appointed International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia about extrajudicial killings, rape, sexual violence and the starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare.

Using starvation as a weapon of war is really grotesque. This has left 13 million people in need of support due to the conflict in the north of Ethiopia, and more than 20 million people in Ethiopia are estimated to be food insecure, with 25,500 severely malnourished children in the region today. However, there are warning signals from the UN that its humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia is currently only 47% funded, thereby hampering those agencies that want to respond to these pressures. As the noble Lord, Lord Browne, indicated, there was perhaps better news this morning, with Ethiopia lifting all restrictions for humanitarian access to Tigray. However, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, indicated, those support areas are only a tiny element of what is needed.

I will return, before I close, with specific questions on UK support, but in the first instance I will ask the Minister a number of questions on the 2 November and 12 November agreements. My understanding is that, as part of the agreements, there is an agreement that there will be disarmament of heavy weaponry within a number of weeks and small arms within a month. That is an incredibly ambitious target, especially since there is concern regarding the lack of clarity on the movement of Eritrean forces. It seems to be difficult to see a simultaneous process of disarmament within a month while there has not been the guarantee that Eritrean forces and Amhara forces will also leave. I would be grateful to know what the Government’s estimate is on that element of the agreement for disarmament.

That leads on to the very pertinent point about monitoring. What role will the UK play? The noble Lord, Lord Browne, gave some very practical suggestions as to how we could support the monitoring and verification, but is the UK intending to play a role with regards to Eritrean forces, as well as the disarmament by TPLF forces?

Secondly, one of the potential positive areas is the work that I hope will now be under way for an interim Administration in Tigray. Will the Government be planning to play a role in support of that? It seems to have been peace secured on the battlefield, but it will not be sustainable unless there is proper administrative and governance support. I share the view of the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, that with the lack of clarity on transitional justice, at the same time as there is intended to be an interim Administration and sustainable governance, it is hard to see how it will be genuinely sustainable for the people. I would be grateful if the Government intended to play a role in providing direct support in this area.

That leads me on to seeking clarity from the Government with regard to assistance. The UK has said that it has spent £90 million on life-saving aid across Ethiopia in the past 18 months, but it is possible that £86 million of that has already been committed, which means that only £4 million is actually there for humanitarian funding in the current crisis. In September, the UK said that it had allocated £6 million in humanitarian aid from the crisis reserve fund for Tigray and Ethiopia, but I understand that it has not yet been spent. If the Minister could clarify that point, I would be grateful.

The Government have also indicated that they have provided £4 million to address sexual violence in Ethiopia, but it is not clear whether that is part of what has already been committed or whether it is new funding. In June, the UK said that it would provide aid for 200,000 children and pregnant women in the southern and eastern regions, but again I have not yet been able to identify clarity as to whether that has so far been delivered. Also in June, the UK said that it had funded the productive safety net programme, benefiting 8 million people via financial welfare provision, but I have not been able to identify which funding stream it is from.

Obviously, some of these issues are technical ones, on which the Minister will not be able to respond this evening, but I shall be grateful if he can write to me setting out the exact figures on how much humanitarian development, as well as women and girls and climate financing, has been provided in this financial year and under which funding streams—specifically, from the crisis reserve fund. The noble Lord, Lord Boateng, is absolutely right: the UK has a role to play, but it is about resources as well as our diplomatic work. If the Minister could provide clarity on that, he would be doing the people a service. I shall be grateful if he could write to me with regard to those issues.