Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the response of the Ethiopian Government to the joint statement by the UK, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand of 11 August 2023.

Our statement called for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for the protection of civilians; we continue to monitor the situation. The Minister for Africa subsequently raised the issue in his meeting with Ethiopian National Security Adviser and the Ambassador raises the issue in all his meetings in Addis Ababa. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to find a political solution to end the violence in the country. We continue to monitor the situation, in concert with others, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian assistance, and the provision of basic services to the people in Amhara affected by conflict.