Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Eritrean forces in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

We believe a substantial number of Eritrean troops have been deployed to Tigray. As I [Minister Duddridge] made clear to the Eritrean Ambassador on 16 March, and through our joint statements at the Human Rights Council on 26 February and by the G7 on 2 April, Eritrean troops (as well as other parties to the conflict) stand accused of atrocities and their continued presence is fuelling insecurity and preventing desperately needed humanitarian access. There must be an end to the fighting and all Eritrean forces must leave Ethiopia immediately, in line with the commitment made by Prime Minister Abiy in his announcement on 26 March. We have yet to see any evidence that Eritrean forces are leaving Tigray - in fact, we have received reports of Eritrean troops wearing Ethiopian National Defence Force uniforms, as well of new Eritrean forces deploying. We will continue pressing for this commitment to be delivered.