Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the government of Ethiopia on press freedom in Ethiopia in the context of the (a) arrest of Muhaydin Abdullahi on 10 May 2022 and (b) cancellation of the press accreditation of Tom Gardner of the Economist magazine on 13 May 2022.

Restrictions to media freedom in Ethiopia are concerning, including the arrest of journalist Muhaydin Adbullahi on 10 May and the expulsion of the Economist correspondent Tom Gardner on 13 May. The UK has consistently called for an end to infringements on media freedom - journalists must have the right to report freely. The British Embassy in Addis Ababa has raised the case of Tom Gardner, a British national, with the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I [Minister Ford] will raise this issue directly with the Ethiopian Government.

The British Embassy in Addis Ababa supports programmes in Ethiopia to strengthen the media environment including PRIMED, which works through BBC Media Action to build the capacity of independent media to produce public interest media, and the Chevening Media Freedom Fellowship programme. The Embassy Addis Ababa also chaired the Media Freedom Coalition of diplomatic partners last year and will to continue to engage as part of the Executive Group this year.