Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking in response to the political situation in Ethiopia.

We are concerned by the ongoing violence in the Tigray region as well as by Amnesty International's report of killings of civilians on 9 November: we call for transparency and accountability to be delivered for such incidents. We have called on all involved to ensure the protection of civilians, and to restore and maintain humanitarian access to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance and essential services. The Foreign Secretary called Prime Minister Abiy of Ethiopia on 10 November to raise these concerns and stress the urgent need to de-escalate the situation. On 18 November, I reinforced this message with the Ethiopian Ambassador to the UK. The British Ambassador to Ethiopia and other officials also continue to reinforce these messages at the highest levels and we continue to engage regional and wider international partners to push for swift de-escalation of the situation. We are in close contact with UK funded humanitarian agencies working in Tigray to understand humanitarian needs and programme adaptations.