Tigray Province: Ceasefire Agreement

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Browne, on bringing this debate. It is a war that has been going on for two years and about which we hear almost nothing here in Britain. It is very hard to follow two such powerful speeches, and I congratulate both speakers on their knowledge of the area.

In the mid-1990s, in the last century, I worked for three months as an archaeologist in Axum in Tigray. It was not long since another war had finished. The people were quite shocked. There had been a lot of death and distress. There was very little food—no fruit or vegetables—because they had not been able to sow their harvest or crop their food. Life was very hard, and it seems that yet again they are experiencing this sort of life.

In two years, 2.5 million inhabitants have been displaced, at least 600,000 innocent civilians have been killed, and the young have been robbed of a prosperous future. Nearly one in three children under five in Tigray is malnourished; 29% of very young children are suffering from global acute malnutrition; and more than half of pregnant or breastfeeding women are also malnourished. This is not just an immediate problem but a problem that will persist for decades as those people move on and those children live lives made worse by the experiences that they have had. I very much welcome the fact that both previous speakers spoke of the sexual violence that has been happening. Women and young girls have been subject to sexual violence and torture by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces. These are war crimes.

The recent ceasefire agreement between the TPLF and the Ethiopian Government is obviously very welcome and comes as a relief for the victims. The fighters will enter a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme while the Government have assured us that they will cease hostilities and enable humanitarian agencies to deliver much-needed aid to the Tigray region.

However, there is never any room for complacency; as with all wars, the prospect of a reignited conflict is always possible. Britain should do all it can diplomatically and financially to ensure that Ethiopia does not experience yet another political conflagration. As the Rwanda reconciliation model has shown, post-conflict stabilisation is possible but, for it to succeed, the country needs to have a conversation with itself to address the underlying tensions and trauma experienced by victims. There has to be a judicial process, as in Rwanda, bringing perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity to justice so that victims can have some level of peace. There need to be educational programmes, which Britain and the UN can organise, teaching the young the importance of peace and democracy.

Of course, all this is put at risk by the humanitarian crisis that the Tigray region faces today. A combination of fuel costs and lack of access due to fighting has prevented the delivery of vital medical aid and food supplies. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report that a

“limited number of commercial transporters”

are

“available for the northern Ethiopian response”.

In addition, a lack of harvests has meant that 4.6 million people are food-insecure and facing famine. This is not the foundation of a lasting peace but could be a reason for further violence down the line. Britain should surely take a proactive role in leading the humanitarian effort, along with aid agencies and the UN—in facilitating the logistical task of delivering tonnes of supplies to affected areas, utilising all its available resources and assets.

I have two questions for the Minister, which have sort of been covered already. First, can the Government make assurances that they will provide financial and logistical assistance to Ethiopia and ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered safely to areas most in need? Secondly, can the Government reaffirm their commitment to regional security in east Africa by communicating to the Ethiopian Government that humanitarian agencies must be allowed unhindered access to the Tigray region?