Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Ethiopian counterpart on that country's change to its asylum policy in January 2020 towards Eritrean refugees.

The UK Government is concerned about the recent changes in Ethiopia's status determination procedures for asylum seekers. We have sought a dialogue with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) on its changes so that we can discuss how they will be delivered and the implications for those fleeing from Eritrea and elsewhere. Through our £170 million refugee and migration programme in Ethiopia (2016-2023), the UK is a leading donor to the refugee response in Ethiopia and plays a proactive role in the coordination of the refugee response alongside UN agencies, other donors and the GoE.