Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) media reports detailing the arrest of Tigrayans in parts of Ethiopia, (2) the conditions in which arrested Tigrayans are being held, and (3) reports that thousands of Tigrayans have been sent to Eritrea where they are subject to atrocity crimes; and what representations they have made to the government of Ethiopia on the situation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Recent arrests of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in Ethiopia are extremely worrying, and discrimination against or targeting of any group is unacceptable. The UK is following the situation closely. We have consistently raised the importance of respect for human rights throughout this conflict, and will raise these concerns directly with the Government of Ethiopia.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Eritrean Government on using their ports for humanitarian supplies to be transported to Tigray in Ethiopia.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government is deeply concerned about the grave humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and shares the concerns outlined in the report on 24 June by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Ensuring assistance gets to those who need it most remains our priority in Tigray. We continue to explore all options with partners to expand humanitarian access by both air and land. We have not discussed access for humanitarian supplies with the Government of Eritrea given the destabilising role their forces continue to play in the conflict . We are focussed on securing the complete, immediate and verifiable withdrawal of all Eritrean troops from Tigray in order to help humanitarian relief efforts.
On 14 June I [Minister Duddridge] announced that the UK will allocate a further £16.7 million to the crisis in Tigray. This will support civil-military coordination to help aid get to those in need and address famine risk through the provision of healthcare, sanitation, and nutritional support. This allocation is on top of the existing £27 million in 2020-21 already directed to the response, and an additional £4 million allocated to support nutrition and vaccinations in Tigray. This brings UK total funding to support response to the crisis to £47.7 million. We continue to urge all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relevance of (1) the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, (2) the UK Approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, and (3) the duty to prevent atrocity crimes, in the context of the war in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has been at the forefront of the international response throughout the conflict in Tigray. We have engaged directly with the Government of Ethiopia, and that of Eritrea, to press for protection of civilians, unfettered humanitarian access and an end to the conflict. This is in line with our approach to protection of civilians, commitment to Responsibility to Protect and atrocity prevention policy. We have also worked through international fora including the G7 leaders' communique of 13 June.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) the perpetrators of sexual violence in Eritrea are brought to justice, (2) evidence of sexual violence in that country is collected and preserved, and (3) UN investigators have the necessary access to conduct an assessment of reported atrocities; and what steps they are taking to deploy UK experts in preventing sexual violence in conflict to Eritrea.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We have deployed from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative UK Team of Experts. Recommendations from an initial scoping mission by them will outline options for supporting the Government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and other key stakeholders to safely collect and preserve evidence, and bring the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. The UK fully supports the joint investigation involving the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to broker talks between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front; and what discussions they have had with the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea about withdrawing armed forces from the Tigray region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Dialogue and reconciliation is required for an inclusive political process to be initiated. The UK endorses African Union Commission Chairperson Faki's views that a comprehensive and all-encompassing permanent ceasefire is necessary to pave the way for sustainable peace in Tigray. We will continue to urge all parties to the conflict to end violence and seek a political resolution.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to avert a famine in Tigray; and in particular, what discussions they have had with the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea (1) to remove roadblocks, and (2) to open the ports of Assab and Massawa.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has allocated £47.7m to respond to the Tigray crisis, to help aid get to those in need and address famine risk through the provision of healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition. We have have consistently called for unfettered humanitarian access.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that soldiers from Eritrea are using food as a weapon of war in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is deeply concerned about the grave humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and combatants, including Eritrean armed forces, denying access to humanitarian agencies. Over 350,000 people are assessed to be in famine-like conditions - more than anywhere else in the world. The UK's Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer visited Tigray in May and concluded that region-wide famine in Tigray is now likely if conflict intensifies and impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid continue. The head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, has said that the humanitarian disaster is due in part to the presence of Eritrean forces. He says they are using hunger as a weapon of war and their continued presence is fuelling insecurity. Intentional use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.
We need to see the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces. The Government of Ethiopia has said this will happen, but it has not. We continue to press hard for this commitment to be delivered. The Minister for Africa made this clear when he met with the Eritrean Ambassador on 16 March.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the relevance of (a) the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and (b) the UK Government’s Protection of Civilians policy to the ongoing situation in Tigray.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government has been at the forefront of the international response throughout the conflict in Tigray, engaging directly with the Government of Ethiopia, and that of Eritrea, to press for protection of civilians, unfettered humanitarian access and an end to the conflict, in line with our approach to protection of civilians and commitment to Responsibility to Protect. We have continued to engage core international partners and raise concerns in international fora, most recently through the G7 leaders' communique of 13 June. We have also raised the issue in UN Security Council open discussions on conflict and famine, the annual Open Debate on Protection of Civilians, in five 'AOB' items on the UNSC agenda, and the Interactive Dialogue of the UNSC of 16 June. The UK's longstanding position is that any determination of genocide is an issue for competent courts, rather than governments. Our focus is always on securing an end to violence and protecting civilians.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK’s diplomatic soft power of the BBC World Service in Africa.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The FCDO strongly values the work of the BBC World Service and its independent and impartial broadcasting, which helps to promote UK values overseas. We support the BBC's mission to bring high quality and trusted news to African audiences, including where free speech is limited. FCDO investment into the BBC World Service via the World2020 programme has seen six new language services launch across Nigeria, Eritrea and Ethiopia, and has contributed to an increase of over 40% in weekly audience since 2016.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is giving to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to help ensure that that agency's joint investigations with the Ethiopian High Commission into atrocities in Eritrea are (a) independent, (b) transparent and (c) impartial, and whether those investigations address specifically the situation of ethnic and religious groups.
Answered by James Duddridge
We are appalled by systematic killing of civilians, widespread rape, including of children, indiscriminate shelling and the forcible displacement of ethnic Tigrayans. Those responsible for such abuses and violations need to be held to account.
We welcome the joint Enquiry of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into human rights violations and abuses in Tigray, and continue to press for unfettered access to the region and victims. Investigators must be given unhindered access to Tigray, be able to speak to the victims of the religious and ethnic groups most affected, and allowed to report their findings in full. We have lobbied in Asmara for Eritrean cooperation with the UNOHCHR Joint Investigation. The EHRC has previously shown its willingness to act independently and must continue to do so through the joint investigation, which we judge is the most credible prospect available for holding the perpetrators of atrocities in Tigray to account. The UK will therefore support the UNOHCHR to ensure that their joint investigation into atrocities in Tigray with the EHRC is independent, transparent and impartial. We will also continue to press the Eritrean government to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea to enable him to fully carry out his mandate.
The UK further welcomes the proposed African Union Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights, calls for the Government of Ethiopia to allow access to this inquiry and is in touch with the African Union on how we might support this effort.