Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last raised the situation in Tigray in (1) the UN Security Council, (2) the UN General Assembly, and (3) the UN Human Rights Council; and what action, if any, is being taken as a result.

At the UN Security Council on 28 January, the UK called on all parties to the conflict in Ethiopia to come to the negotiating table, and uphold their duty to protect civilians in accordance with their international legal obligations. Since the start of hostilities in November 2020 the UK has urged all sides to enable humanitarian agencies to deliver life-saving aid. In January this year the Minister for Africa travelled to Addis Ababa to meet the Ethiopian Government and argued robustly for immediate and unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray. The Minister for Africa met with Ethiopia's Minister for Health, who committed to increasing the number of humanitarian flights reaching Tigray. Since this meeting there has been an increase in humanitarian flights principally carrying medical aid: over 95 metric tons of aid reached Mekelle by air during the period 14 - 19 March, for example. While we welcome efforts to improve air access, there has been almost no humanitarian access to Tigray by road since December 2021. 500 trucks per week are needed to meet the level of need in the region, and as a result of the lack of road access at least 400,000 people in the region are experiencing famine conditions.

At a Special Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 17 December 2021, the UK supported and voted in favour of an EU-led resolution on Ethiopia which created an International Commission of Experts to investigate human rights abuses and violations committed during the conflict. The UK made a statement at the Interactive Dialogue on Tigray at the HRC on 4 March.