Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the recent attacks on the Christian community in Oromia region, Ethiopia; and what steps she is taking to help ensure their protection.

We remain concerned about the situation in Oromia, and its impact on civilians, and note the 4 November statement of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia condemning recent attacks on Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Muslim communities across Oromia. We continue to call on all sides to engage in dialogue to address the underlying causes of conflict in the region. Through our Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme, in Oromia, the UK supports dialogue efforts by local peacemakers, women's groups and the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia (IRCE). The UK is also supporting the investigative capacity of Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to follow up on reports of violations affecting civilians in Oromia.