Mentions:
1: Baroness Kennedy of Shaws (Lab - Life peer) happened as a result of our pulling away from our international obligations.It is commonly said that armed - Speech Link
2: Lord Alton of Liverpool (XB - Life peer) Close to two years after the beginning of the war in Tigray, the Government finally commissioned a JACS - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab - Life peer) , to diminish the Houthis’ ability to disrupt maritime navigation, and we acknowledge and thank our Armed - Speech Link
2: Lord Boateng (Lab - Life peer) Armed conflicts have worsened human suffering and forced millions to flee: roughly 2.7 million people - Speech Link
3: Lord Alton of Liverpool (XB - Life peer) Where were the blue helmets as 600,000 were killed in Tigray while the world looked away? - Speech Link
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement published by Refugees International on 27 November concerning the war in Tigray, which stated that "between 40 and 50 per cent of women experienced gender-based violence"; and what steps they are taking, together with international partners, to bring those responsible to justice.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We welcome independent reporting such as Refugees International's and are appalled by the reports of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence committed by all sides during the conflict in Northern Ethiopia. The United Kingdom condemns sexual violence unequivocally and without exception and stands with all victims and survivors. We continue to call for the Government of Ethiopia to develop and implement an inclusive and credible Transitional Justice policy, to ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations including gender-based violence and have offered support to the Government of Ethiopia on this. Through our human rights and peacebuilding programme, the United Kingdom is helping to build the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to deliver justice and accountability for victims, including survivors of gender-based violence. Our humanitarian programming also involves work to improve the availability and accessibility of services for survivors.
Mentions:
1: Tony Lloyd (Lab - Rochdale) attacks in northern Kosovo, including the so-called Banjska attack in October this year, were planned by armed - Speech Link
2: Fleur Anderson (Lab - Putney) ill-prepared to respond to some of the greatest foreign policy crises of our time: Sudan, Ukraine, Tigray - Speech Link
3: Brendan O'Hara (SNP - Argyll and Bute) After all that we have seen in Ukraine, Gaza, Tigray, Darfur and Xinjiang, is that really still the UK - Speech Link
4: Lyn Brown (Lab - West Ham) then need to be proactive by using that greater understanding of those driving the violence to press armed - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Yvette Cooper (Lab - Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) As Antony Blinken said at the very start of the conflict,“how Israel does this matters. - Speech Link
2: Alison Thewliss (SNP - Glasgow Central) It will not end the 70-year-old conflict, but it gives us a place to begin. - Speech Link
3: Michael Ellis (Con - Northampton North) over which the UK has no control, and a ceasefire that neither side in the conflict wants. - Speech Link
4: Zarah Sultana (Lab - Coventry South) west bank, where Hamas are not in power, around 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or armed - Speech Link
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Ethiopia on transparent accountability for human rights violations committed during the Tigray war; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other countries on co-ordinating diplomatic responses to this issue.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to protecting human rights in Ethiopia and across the globe. We continue to support the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. The UK also provides funding to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights independent monitoring of human rights in northern Ethiopian and our £4.5 million Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme (HARP) supports the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). We continue to emphasise the need for peaceful resolution of all conflicts in Ethiopia through inclusive, transparent dialogue.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who have died as a consequence of the war in Tigray as a result of (1) fatalities in the conflict, (2) displacement, and (3) illness and hunger caused by the conflict.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Reliable information on casualties caused by the conflict in Tigray is very scarce. Armed violence is likely to have cased thousands of battlefield casualties. Calculating deaths attributable to displacement, hunger and illness is more challenging. This is due to the breakdown in medical and communications services in Tigray during the conflict, exacerbated by the negligible levels of humanitarian access all of which hampered information gathering and accurate reporting.
Jul. 17 2023
Source Page: FCDO annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023Found: Agreed joint development with Australia and the US of a conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine
Jul. 13 2023
Source Page: Human Rights and Democracy Report 2022Found: The Ethiopian government cut off communications in Tigray and parts of Amhara, Afar and Oromia, for
Report May. 26 2023
Committee: International Development Committee (Department: Department for International Development)Found: Many refugees will be traumatised by violence and conflict in their homeland and may have experienced