Ethiopia: Humanitarian and Security Situation

Lord Browne of Ladyton Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Browne of Ladyton]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian and security situation in northern Ethiopia.

[The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con)]

My Lords, the UK is gravely concerned about the resumption of fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Government. There is no military solution to this conflict; only political negotiations can resolve it. Thirteen million people in northern Ethiopia are in need now of humanitarian assistance as a result of the conflict and the UK is urging all parties to immediately reinstate the truce, allow humanitarian access and begin peace talks.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, this conflict is responsible for the deaths of half a million or more people already from either war or famine. On 2 August, following a meeting in Addis Ababa and a visit to the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, the US special envoy, Mike Hammer, and envoys of the EU, the UN and the UK called for the restoration of basic, essential services and unfettered humanitarian access, implying that Abiy, who had met them, had agreed to do these things. However, he summarily dismissed their call and maintained the blockade, continuing to use starvation as a weapon of war. Fighting has now resumed, with Eritrea’s re-entry into the conflict, a counteroffensive by the TPLF and lethal air strikes by Abiy aimed at civilian areas, including a kindergarten. Considering the humanitarian, regional and geopolitical implications of increasing instability in Ethiopia, what steps are we taking to end this conflict? What leverage do we have?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, as I said, 22 months of fighting has shown that the only solution is a political one and we have been very forthright in urging all parties to reinstate the previously agreed cessation of hostilities, begin peace talks and guarantee humanitarian access to northern Ethiopia for basic services. We have supported and continue to support the African Union’s mediation efforts. The African Union is pushing hard for a redoubling of those efforts to avert further escalation. Our view and its view is that Tigrayan forces should leave Amhara and Eritrean forces should withdraw from Ethiopia. We are as dismayed as the noble Lord no doubt is at the recent reports of civilian casualties following a government air strike on Tigray. This is a humanitarian crisis that is growing terrifyingly quickly, affecting vast numbers of people.