UK Africa Minister says “It is essential that the parties to the conflict in Tigray allow for urgent and unimpeded access to human rights investigators. These matters must be brought before competent national and international courts.” – but in the absence of such mechanisms doesn’t say how that will be done.
The Lord Alton of Liverpool
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
www.gov.uk/fcdo
Our ref: MC2021/06904
14 May 2021
Dear Lord Alton,
T
hank you for your correspondence of 18 March about Tigray. I am replying as the
Minister for Africa.
We remain concerned by the impact of the continued fighting in the Tigray region and
the dire humanitarian situation. We have consistently urged all parties to end the conflict,
prioritise the protection of civilians and allow unfettered humanitarian access. I raised
these points when I spoke with the Ethiopian Ambassador on 24 February.
The UK is working closely with humanitarian organisations to make sure aid reaches
civilians affected by the fighting. UK-funded aid agencies in Tigray are working hard to
deliver support in challenging circumstances, including shelter, water and healthcare.
Our priority remains to support Ethiopians in need, which we will do by supporting the
most vulnerable in the country through a number of programmes that support
the country’s poorest. The UK provided over £100 million of humanitarian assistance to
Ethiopia in 2020/2021. This included £19 million specifically to the Tigray crisis
response.
In regards to food security, I shared the UK’s concerns with the International
Development Committee on 18 March. Lord Ahmad also made clear the dire
humanitarian situation in the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Conflict
and Food Security on 11 March. The British Embassy in Addis Ababa are working
closely with the UK’s Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs and Famine Prevention on
this issue.
In terms of UK on the ground assessments, staff from the British Embassy have now
visited Tigray on three occasions in March and April. They met with the provisional
administration of Tigray, the Mayor of Mekelle, the Interim Head of Administration in
Shire and with humanitarian agencies working in the region. They spoke directly to
people displaced by violence and heard harrowing stories. The team also saw UKAid
work in action and learned of the challenges across Tigray.
The UK’s longstanding position is that determining whether a situation amounts to
genocide is an issue for competent national and international courts, not governments:
our focus is on seeing an end to violence and protecting civilians. It is essential that the
parties to the conflict allow for urgent and unimpeded access to human rights
investigators. These matters must be brought before competent national and
international courts.
We have also made clear to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) our concerns
at the continued lack of progress with humanitarian access, the role of Eritrean forces in
the conflict, and human rights abuses and violations.
The UNSC’s concerns were made clear in a press statement of 22 April which called for ‘a scaled-up humanitarian
response and unfettered humanitarian access to all people in need, including in the
context of the food security situation’. The UK will continue to work with our colleagues
on the UNSC to bring attention to this matter, as well as in other multilateral fora – under
the UK Presidency, the G7 issued a statement on the situation in Ethiopia on 2 April.
James Duddridge MP
Minister for Africa
