Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Ethiopian counterpart on lifting the communications blackout in Tigray.

I raised the importance of restoring services to Tigray, including communications, when I met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Redwan during my visit to the country on 20 January, and wrote to the Ethiopian Minister for Justice regarding freedom of press and the lack of internet access in Tigray on 24 May. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)'s Director General for Humanitarian and Development raised telecommunications access with Ethiopian Finance Minister Shide on 13 July during a visit to Addis Ababa. The UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea raised the issue with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Redwan during his visit to Ethiopia in May, and the British Embassy in Addis Ababa regularly raises the restoration of services to Tigray with the Ethiopian Government.