Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Andargachew Tsige from his detention or imprisonment by the Ethiopian government.

I remain deeply concerned by the continued detention of British national Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia and about his welfare. The Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP) has raised this case more than 16 times with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, most recently on 30 June. He made a public statement on 25 June that made clear that Ethiopia’s failure to grant our repeated requests was unacceptable, and that the lack of progress in the case risked undermining the UK’s relationship with Ethiopia. We will continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for our concerns regarding Mr Andargachew’s welfare to be addressed and for a clear and transparent legal process through which Mr Andargachew can challenge his detention.