Asked by: Lord Bishop of Coventry (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the 18 month blockade of Tigray on the (1) nutritional status, (2) mortality rates, and (3) access to essential services, of the population of that region.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Since November 2020 humanitarian access to Tigray has been severely limited causing devastating impact on food security, access to care, and essential services. Limited access has also made data gathering and verification challenging. The UN estimates 13 million people require food assistance in Ethiopia due to the conflict in the north. As of mid-2022, humanitarian surveys in Tigray estimated malnutrition remained alarmingly high, with 55-80 percent of pregnant women and new mothers and up to 30 percent of children affected by malnutrition. Risks of mortality continue, exacerbated by lean seasons, erosion of coping capacities and blockage of basic services.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with international partners regarding the involvement of Eritrean Defence Forces in the renewed conflict in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The breakdown of the truce between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Government and the renewed involvement of Eritrea is catastrophic for Ethiopia. The UK encourages international efforts to de-escalate conflict, stressing the need for a political solution, humanitarian access and accountability.
On 22 September, in a meeting with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Development raised the impact of renewed conflict on the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia and reiterated calls for a truce, restoration of humanitarian access to Tigray and for Eritrean forces to leave. Following this, the Minister for Africa tweeted about the escalation of fighting and the involvement of Eritrean forces, again calling on them to leave Tigray. Our Embassies in Addis Ababa and Asmara continue to engage with parties to the conflict to deliver these messages.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Tigray, given the renewed fighting in that region.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The breakdown of the truce between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Government and the renewed involvement of Eritrea is catastrophic for Ethiopia. The UK encourages international efforts to de-escalate conflict, stressing the need for a political solution, humanitarian access and accountability.
On 22 September, in a meeting with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Development raised the impact of renewed conflict on the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia and reiterated calls for a truce, restoration of humanitarian access to Tigray and for Eritrean forces to leave. Following this, the Minister for Africa tweeted about the escalation of fighting and the involvement of Eritrean forces, again calling on them to leave Tigray. Our Embassies in Addis Ababa and Asmara continue to engage with parties to the conflict to deliver these messages.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the governments of (a) Eritrea and (b) Ethiopia on the attack on the Tigray region launched on 20 September 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK has noted the resumption of conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Government. There is no military solution to this conflict - only political negotiations can resolve it.
On 22 September, the Minister for Development, Vicky Ford MP, met Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke and discussed the impact of renewed conflict on humanitarian crisis and civilians in northern Ethiopia and reiterated calls for a truce, the restoration of humanitarian access to Tigray, and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops. I tweeted on 22 September reiterating these points. The British Embassies in Ethiopia and Eritrea are speaking regularly with their host Governments and, in the case of the Embassy in Ethiopia, the TPLF urging an end to the conflict.
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 assessment she has made of the impact on a) food security, b) access to healthcare and c) other humanitarian impacts of the resumption of violence between the TPLF and the government of Ethiopia since 24 August 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The conflict in Ethiopia has contributed to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, leaving 13 million people in Tigray, Amhara and Afar requiring humanitarian assistance. The breakdown of the truce between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Government, and the renewed involvement of Eritrea, is catastrophic for the people of Ethiopia and makes the work of humanitarian agencies much more difficult. Humanitarian access to Tigray is now extremely limited. This is having a devastating impact on food security, access to healthcare and other humanitarian needs.
The UK urges all parties to the conflict to guarantee unfettered humanitarian access by immediately ceasing hostilities and allowing aid in. The UK calls on the Ethiopian Government to urgently restore services to Tigray and the TPLF to return the fuel that it seized so that it can be used for aid distribution and critical services.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the government of Ethiopia on (a) ending the conflict in Tigray and (b) the role that will play in encouraging businesses to return to and expand their operations in that country.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We welcome the cessation of hostilities announced on 24 March and the subsequent commitment to scale-up the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to Tigray. There can be no military solution to the conflict. We have consistently called on all parties to the conflict to stop fighting and find a political solution to the conflict through negotiations. I have underlined this message in meetings in the past weeks with the Ethiopian Finance Minister and Education Minister. I also raised this issue with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy during our meeting on 29 January.
The conflict has contributed to a challenging economic situation in Ethiopia. Bringing the conflict to an end will help to return Ethiopia's economy to rapid growth, and give British businesses the confidence that they need to invest. Once peace is secured, the UK stands ready to support Ethiopia's recovery from the conflict, supporting economic stability and growing the pipeline of potential UK investments.
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 current state of the truce between armed groups within Tigray and the governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia; and what steps they plan to take, if any, to increase pressure on the government of Eritrea to withdraw its forces from Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We welcome the truce between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and their commitment to scale-up the delivery of life-saving aid to Tigray. It is imperative that access is facilitated without delay. The UK is committed to working with the Government of Ethiopia and authorities in Afar and Tigray to expand aid deliveries to areas affected by the conflict and to promote long-term peace and security. We encourage the TPLF to engage constructively with the Government of Ethiopia for the good of civilians across the region. A return to conflict would have devastating impacts.
Troops from Eritrea have caused significant suffering in Tigray and they have committed abuses which may constitute war crimes. Eritrean troops should withdraw fully from Ethiopia. The UK's Ambassador in Asmara has underlined this point to the Government of Eritrea.
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 as to whether starvation is being used as a weapon of war against the civilian population of Tigray.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The conflict in Ethiopia has caused huge levels of suffering. The UN estimates that more than 9 million people are in need food assistance in northern Ethiopia. The situation is most critical in Tigray where 5.2 million people require life-saving aid. Due to restrictions imposed the Government of Ethiopia and as a result of active conflict there has been negligible overland humanitarian access to Tigray since December 202 with less than 10% of required aid delivered since July last year. A critical shortage of food has seen partial food baskets distributed exacerbated by a shortage of fuel for relief operations.
The lack of access makes it very challenging to accurately assess the nutrition context in Tigray. The UN estimates that roughly 454,000 children are malnourished in the region of whom some 115,000 are severely malnourished. Roughly 400,000 people are assessed to be experiencing catastrophic conditions akin to famine.
We welcome the humanitarian ceasefire announced by the Ethiopian Government on 24 March and agreed by Tigrayan authorities on 25 March. It is crucial that this is translated immediately into the regular delivery of aid to Tigray by road following the movement of 21 trucks into Tigray – a third of which were UK funded – on 1 April. Since November 2020 the UK has allocated £15.6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its food and nutrition operations in northern Ethiopia. This helped WFP reach more than 885,000 people with food assistance and approximately 219,000 people with nutrition support.
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 impact on victims of conflict-related sexual violence of (1) the destruction of medical clinics, and (2) reduced medical equipment and supplies, as a result of the war in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are appalled at the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence and the destruction of medical facilities in northern Ethiopia, which is clearly impacting the availability and accessibility of support for survivors.
The UK has been funding the delivery of lifesaving health and social services including reproductive health kits and supplies and clinical management to prevent HIV transmission, sexually transmitted infections and treat injuries and wounds caused by sexual assault. We are working through partners to remove barriers to medical care and psychosocial support for refugees in Addis Ababa that have been targeted with sexual violence. UK programmes are also building the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission's ability to investigate conflict-related sexual violence and ensure that appropriate referrals to health and social services are made.
Despite the recent overland humanitarian convoy that reached Mekelle on 1 April, the first in nearly four months, there has been negligible humanitarian access to Tigray since July last year. The UK welcomes the recent humanitarian truce, but urges all parties to take all necessary steps to provide unfettered and sustained humanitarian access to northern Ethiopia.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 21 March (HL6783), what assessment they have made of the denial of transit facilities to the United Nations through Ethiopia; and whether they consider this to be a blockade.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Less than 10% of required aid has reached Tigray since July 2021. The UN has described Tigray as being subject to a 'de facto blockade' and we share this assessment. We welcome the humanitarian ceasefire announced by both sides on 24 March and are working with a range of stakeholders how to operationalise this to enable swift delivery of aid.