Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to monitor the (a) number of flights undertaken by the Ethiopian Government to deliver humanitarian supplies to the Tigray region and (b) efficacy of such flights in enabling distribution of humanitarian supplies to the areas in greatest need.

On my visit to Addis Ababa on 20 January 2022 I discussed the clear need for an urgent improvement in humanitarian access with the Government of Ethiopia, including in my meeting with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

A single humanitarian passenger flight to Mekelle from Addis Ababa each day is no substitute for the level of aid that is urgently required in the region. According to the UN, the relief effort in Tigray requires 100 trucks worth of life-saving supplies to be delivered each day. The humanitarian response in Tigray is now at standstill owing to the de facto blockade of the region imposed by the Government of Ethiopia since July 2021 and recent violence along the Tigray-Afar border. The blockade has caused major disruption to the provision of essential services. UK funded partners report that single-use items including medical gloves and surgical materials such as chest drains are being washed and reused significantly increasing the risk of infections for patients. The UK is appalled at reports that civilians are dying due to the unavailability of insulin and other generic medicines.

According to the latest available information from the UN, no humanitarian aid trucks entered Tigray during the period 14 December 2021 - 20 January 2022 with only 12% of required aid permitted to enter Tigray since July 2021. Fuel trucks have not been allowed entry to Tigray for over five months - since 2 August 2021.