The Lord Alton of Liverpool House of Commons London
SW1A 0AA
16 December 2021
Dear David,
Thank you for your email of 1 November asking for an assessment of a Reuters report concerning the treatment of Eritrean refugees in Tigray. I am replying as the Minister for Africa.
We are concerned at reports of human rights violations and abuses against Eritrean refugees in Tigray by the Eritrean and Tigrayan forces from November to December 2020, including the forced repatriation of refugees to Eritrea.
The British Ambassador in Eritrea raised our concerns with the Eritrean Foreign Minister in December 2020, who denied that Eritrean forces had forcibly returned Eritrean refugees to Eritrea.
In March, the former Minister for Africa made clear to the Eritrean Ambassador the UK’s concern about reports of human rights violations by all parties to the conflict and the need for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray.
I also raised these issues in my first meeting with the Ethiopian Ambassador on 22 September.
The report by the joint UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigation, published on 3 November, concludes that “There are reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the conflict have violated the rights of refugees as stipulated under international human rights law, humanitarian law, refugee law, and national laws. Such acts warrant further investigation and may also amount to war crimes. EDF and Tigray forces violated the civilian character of the camp by their presence in the camp and fighting around the camp and put refugees’ liberty and security at risk which in turn resulted in their displacement and disappearance. EDF violated the fundamental principle of non-refoulement by forcefully returning some Eritrean refugees to Eritrea. On the other hand, Tigrayan forces and civilians looted private property of refugees and property of humanitarian organizations.”
It is essential that all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses be held to account.
We remain extremely concerned that humanitarian agencies, including the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), do not have access to refugee camps in Tigray, meaning our understanding of the humanitarian and protection context in camps and refugee hosting areas is limited.
It is the responsibility of the host state to protect refugees on their territory and this was acknowledged by the Government of Ethiopia when we raised the matter.
There are numerous shocking reports, including in the Joint Investigation report, of atrocities committed by Eritrean forces in Tigray, and their continued presence is fueling insecurity. These forces must leave Ethiopia immediately. We continue to press hard for this commitment to be delivered.
Yours sincerely,
Vicky Ford MP Minister for Africa
