Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian situation in Tigray since the end of the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia; and how they are monitoring the situation now that no other international or regional mechanisms are reporting on it.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The humanitarian indicators in Tigray remain worrying, with 3.8 million of the region's estimated population of 6 million needing humanitarian assistance this year. This is why the UK has increased funding for Ethiopia this financial year (2024/25) and adapted our programming to mitigate the most severe humanitarian outcomes, with an increased focus on lifesaving nutrition, health and water and sanitation programming for the most vulnerable populations, including in Tigray. We continue to engage with established systems for monitoring humanitarian need and response plans led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). We are also investing in improving data and evidence to enable the humanitarian community to make informed decisions on the humanitarian response.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of reports that more than 2 million people are now at risk of starvation in Tigray and what action are they taking to support the affected communities.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We remain concerned about high levels of humanitarian need across many parts of Ethiopia, including in the north. Climate shocks, conflict, disease outbreaks and high inflation are driving humanitarian need in Ethiopia, including in Tigray. The humanitarian community is targeting 3.8 million people in Tigray with food assistance over the July-September lean season to stave off hunger. A UK co-led pledging conference in April helped increase humanitarian funding by securing $610 million from international development partners. This includes £100 million from the UK, which will provide lifesaving support for hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, including over 435,000 children and mothers suffering from malnutrition, and more than 230,000 needing access to emergency healthcare. This includes UK support to the government of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme which is strengthening food security and resilience for 8 million people living in extreme poverty across Ethiopia.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 9 February (HL1953), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what assessment they have made of reports by the Mekelle branch of the Ethiopian Ombudsman Institution on 24 January that in five camps of internally displaced people in Tigray, 900 had died due to starvation.
Answered by Lord Benyon
A press release relating to the Ombudsman's report was issued on 30 January. It did not state what evidence the Ombudsman team were basing their observations on or what methodology they had used to determine cause of death. We use all available data sources to assess the severity of food insecurity across northern Ethiopia. In his recent visit to Ethiopia in February 2024, Minister Andrew Mitchell saw firsthand the worsening humanitarian situation in Tigray and announced an additional £100 million to end preventable deaths, targeting three million people across Ethiopia including those who are most at risk in the northern regions.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people at risk of death from (a) hunger and (b) drought in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
During my recent visit to Ethiopia, I saw firsthand the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Tigray. Across northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, El Nino is causing drought that is affecting 4 million people. According to assessments from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 1.4 million in Tigray will need immediate emergency food assistance because of drought.
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 assessment he had made of the implications for his policies of the (a) humanitarian, (b) human rights and (c) security situation in the (i) Tigray, (ii) Amhara and (iii) Oromia regions of Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The humanitarian level of need across Ethiopia remains high. Last year, UK humanitarian assistance supported 950,000 with medical supplies, treatment for 80,000 malnourished children and women, and education for 10,000 boys and girls. This year Ethiopia has been designated a Focus Country in both the 2022 Human Rights and Democracy Report and the Women, Peace and Security National Action. We welcome the Ethiopian government's commitment to establish a national Transitional Justice policy and the progress on consultation to date. The Ambassador to Ethiopia recently announced funding for the African Union's monitoring, verification and compliance mechanism to support the implementation of the Pretoria peace deal.
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 reports that 700 people have died of hunger over a two-month period in the camp for internally displaced people at Shire, Western Tigray.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of the reports of widespread hunger and other challenging circumstances people face in camps in Tigray. We do not currently have further information on the specific reports of deaths in the Shire camp. Humanitarian partners in Ethiopia are closely following the situation of vulnerable people across Ethiopia and investigating allegations of risk to life as a result of gaps in food assistance. We continue to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people across Ethiopia, including in Tigray.
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 received on (a) the humanitarian situation in Western Tigray, (b) reports of ethnic cleansing and forced displacements of Tigrayan people in that region and( c) responsibility for that alleged ethnic cleansing.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK continues to ensure improved awareness of and response to the large-scale and country wide humanitarian needs. In particular the UK is monitoring upcoming climate outlooks and support planning for likely below average rains from June - September as well as El Nino conditions from June. The UK noted the report published by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in 2022 detailing widespread human rights violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict. The UK is committed to human rights being respected and those responsible for human rights abuses and violations being held to account. We continue to support the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. We are providing £4.5 million to help build the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission through the UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2020 to Question 8948 on Tigray: Humanitarian Situation, how many people were extradited from the US to the UK for (a) violent and (b) non-violent crimes in each year since 2018.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
Year | Total number extradited | Total number extradited for non-violent offences | Total number extradited for violent offences |
2018 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
2019 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2020 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
2021 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
2022 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
2023* | 3 | 1 | 2 |
* Figures until 24 February 2023
For the above table, we have taken non-violent offences to include:
These figures provide updates on previously published statistics for 2018. All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Tigray.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The humanitarian situation in Tigray remains very serious. According to the UN, approximately 5.4 million people require life-saving aid and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine. The recent peace agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) contained commitments to provide unfettered humanitarian access and the restoration of essential services. We welcome the early signs of progress, but humanitarian delivery needs to scale-up rapidly if it is to meet the desperate needs.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the situation in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We welcome the recent agreement between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front to end the conflict in northern Ethiopia. The agreement provides for unfettered humanitarian access and for the resumption of essential basic services. The humanitarian situation in Tigray remains very serious. According to the UN approximately 5.4 million people require life-saving aid and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.