Asked by Lord Browne of Ladyton To ask His Majesty’s Government
what assessment they have made of the peace process in Ethiopia;
and what representations they plan to make to the government of
Ethiopia about the cessation of hostilities agreement that requires
the withdrawal of all foreign forces and the concurrent disarmament
of Tigrayan forces. Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab) My Lords, I beg
leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper....Request free trial
Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the peace process in Ethiopia; and what representations they plan
to make to the government of Ethiopia about the cessation of
hostilities agreement that requires the withdrawal of all foreign
forces and the concurrent disarmament of Tigrayan forces.
(Lab)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on
the Order Paper.
(Lab)
Hear, hear!
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office () (Con)
My Lords, it is good to hear the noble Baroness in such good
voice. We welcome the peace agreement between the Ethiopian
Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front to end the
conflict in northern Ethiopia. The agreement makes provision for
an AU-chaired committee to monitor and verify its implementation.
We are ready to provide support towards implementation of the
agreement and have communicated this offer to the African Union
and the Ethiopian Government. We have also called on the Eritrean
Government to support the agreement by withdrawing their troops
from Ethiopia.
(Lab)
My Lords, on Friday, the Associated Press reported that Eritrean
forces are continuing their killings of civilians in the Tigray
region, and according to the Washington Post yesterday,
“Ethiopian guards massacred scores of Tigrayan prisoners.” On 17
November, before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee,
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Phee
committed to further sanctions on Eritrea if it does not throw
its troops out, and to neither restoration of the US African
Growth and Opportunity Act nor support for international loans
for Ethiopia until unrestricted humanitarian aid enters Tigray
and civilian detainees are released. Is the Minister able to make
similar commitments today for His Majesty’s Government?
(Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord will know that I cannot give any
specifics or details of sanctions; however, sanctions are part
and parcel of the tools we have at our disposal. As I said in my
original Answer, we wish, want and have asked the Eritreans to
withdraw immediately; we will continue to do so repeatedly by
working with the AU and the UN. They are an impediment to the
peace process and, as we have seen from the noble Lord’s
supplementary question, the continued violence being perpetrated
is inexcusable. If there is more information to share in future,
we will do so at the appropriate time.
(LD)
My Lords, as the Minister attended the Preventing Sexual Violence
in Conflict Initiative conference last week, could he tell us
what reports are coming through on the use of rape as a weapon of
war in Tigray and whether people will be held to account? Is
evidence being gathered, which is necessary if perpetrators are
to be held to account?
(Con)
My Lords, of course I can assure the noble Baroness that we are
working with key agencies, including the UN. This was a specific
area that I also discussed with SRSG Patten, who heads the UN
team. We have previously dispatched experts to collect evidence.
On specific actions, part of the conference was about ensuring
that we collate and sustain evidence so that we can successfully
prosecute as and when those opportunities arise.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister knows the region well, as I know that his
right honourable friend the Minister for Overseas Development
does, and he will therefore appreciate that wishing, wanting and
asking for peace in that region is simply not going to be enough.
As he has recognised and referred to, an African Union committee
is charged with monitoring the process. The African Union is
notoriously underresourced; its partner is the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development. Will the Minister undertake to refer to
that body and ask what practical assistance, by way of material
resources, it needs to undertake its very difficult task?
(Con)
My Lords, equally, I know that the noble Lord has detailed
insight of this area and particularly this conflict. As he and I
discussed only a couple of weeks ago in a very—as ever—informed
debate in your Lordships’ House, there is great hope for
Ethiopia. Of course, however, I take on board his practical
suggestion and I assure him that, at the highest level, we will
look to engage. It is not just about Eritrean forces withdrawing;
they need to withdraw now.
(GP)
My Lords, this conflict has been going on for two years. In that
time, thousands have been killed and raped, people have lost
their homes and livelihoods, and they are starving. Now the World
Health Organization says that it does not have access to all
areas in Tigray. What are the UK Government doing about that?
(Con)
My Lords, we helped to negotiate and regain access to
humanitarian corridors to various parts of the region, including
parts of Tigray. However, the noble Baroness is correct: not all
areas are accessible, even by UN agencies. We have been
successful, and the United Kingdom has played a key part in
providing humanitarian support, including specific support for
those who have been impacted by gender-based violence, for those
requiring specific nutrition and health support, and for water
and sanitation. We are a key part of that effort, together with
the United Nations.
(Lab)
My Lords, may I just probe a little more the issue raised by the
noble Baroness, Lady Northover? At the conference, on which I
congratulate the Minister, it was made clear that preventing
sexual violence requires people knowing that they cannot act with
impunity. That means making sure that we have the means to hold
them properly to account. Gathering the evidence is one thing,
but what are we doing to support the Ethiopian authorities to
ensure that those people are held to account on all sides for the
crimes they have committed? Are we giving them practical
support?
(Con)
Yes, we are. However, I do not want to deny for a moment that the
challenges are immense. We have just seen a very fragile peace
agreement being reached; we need to ensure that it is sustained
and strengthened, and that those who committed these crimes are
held fully to account. As the noble Lord will know, we made an
additional commitment of £12.5 million; part of that money will
be allocated to national mechanisms in conflict-related areas,
where we can help to build national accountability mechanisms and
support the training of judges and prosecutors.
(Con)
My Lords, further to my noble friend’s comments on the dire
humanitarian situation, I say that we believe there to be around
13 million people who now need humanitarian assistance because of
the hostilities. Can he update me on any progress that has been
made on humanitarian access since the ceasefire?
(Con)
My Lords, we are providing additional access. As my noble friend
will be aware, in the last 18 months alone, we have allocated
nearly £90 million to support efforts, including humanitarian
efforts. Existing supply routes continue to operate, but we are
working with partners such as UNICEF and, in particular, the WFP.
Over the last 18 months, it has provided supplementary feeding,
for example, to 115,000 malnourished mothers and children in
northern Ethiopia, and to 226,000 people in drought-affected
communities in southern Ethiopia. When we see the scale of the
humanitarian suffering, however, we see that there is so much
still to be done.
(Lab)
My Lords, the conflict is one of famine and atrocities on both
sides. What confidence does the Minister have that the laying-
down of arms will not lead to the settling of scores against the
people of Tigray?
(Con)
My Lords, in any conflict resolution, what is required is
reconciliation. We need to focus on that. This is a very
vulnerable ceasefire at the moment. We have seen hard
negotiations and I pay tribute to, among others, former Kenyan
President Kenyatta and former Nigerian President Obasanjo, who
were central to ensuring that this agreement was reached.
However, sustaining it is going to be equally difficult, and that
is why, in reply to the noble Lord, , I said that it is important
that countries like the UK and other international partners
support regional efforts to ensure that the peace agreement that
has been negotiated can be sustained and strengthened.
(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend the Minister has referred to the United
Nations, the African Union and a number of other international
organisations. Can he enlighten the House as to which other
international organisations the Government are working with in
trying to get to the heart of this problem?
(Con)
My Lords, we need to focus on practical solutions, which is why,
even with the United Nations, we have focused on supporting the
African Union’s efforts. There could be a multitude of
organisations working on the ground, but we need a focused peace.
We are working with various other international agencies: UNICEF,
the WFP, the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund, the ICRC, the World
Health Organization, the IOM, UNHCR—the list continues. It is
important that we have a co-ordinated effort, which is best done
by regional partners—namely, the African Union. Oh! I am working
with musical accompaniment as well now.
(Con)
My Lords, I apologise for that interruption by my phone. I never
cease to be encouraged by the ambition of Members of this House
to have an impact in parts of the world where, frankly, we have
very little political clout. We give very substantial amounts of
money, as my noble friend the Minister has just outlined; what
measures are we able to take to ensure that that great deal of
aid money is in fact spent on the causes that we intend it to be,
rather than siphoned off and spent, as I fear too much aid is, by
people in whose pockets we would simply not wish to find that
money?
(Con)
My noble friend raises an important point, not just in the
context of Ethiopia but everywhere where British taxpayers’ money
is spent. It is important that the Government stand accountable
for ensuring that money is spent on the intention for which it
has been given. That is why I sought to provide specific answers
on some of the programmes. I have already given one or two
examples; I mentioned the ICRC, for which our funding of £4
million has helped in the treatment of 17,700 wounded people and
116,000 other patients. There are other specific numbers that I
can provide to my noble friend. It is important because,
undoubtedly, anywhere that humanitarian support is provided,
there is a need for local accountability mechanisms and a full
audit of how money is spent to ensure that those who are most
vulnerable and in need get the money and support that they
require.
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