Recommendation 24

HM Government Not Addressed

The Government welcomes the International Development Committee’s (IDC) report “The humanitarian situation in Tigray” and is grateful to all those who contributed written and oral evidence. We remain concerned by the impact of the continued fighting in the Tigray region of Ethiopia on the people of Tigray. Since November 2020, they have had to endure egregious human rights violations and abuses, including extra-judicial killings, rape and sexual and gender based violence and displacement on ethnic grounds that has seen tens of thousands flee their homes. The humanitarian situation has become increasingly dire, with the UN assessing that only around 1 million people have received basic food assistance out of up to 5.2 million people in desperate need. Much of the region remains inaccessible to humanitarian agencies due to ongoing insecurity and denial of access by forces on the ground. HMG has been at the forefront of the international response throughout the conflict, engaging directly with the Government of Ethiopia, and that of Eritrea, to press for an end to the conflict, protection of civilians and unfettered humanitarian access. We have also continued to engage core international partners and raise concerns in international fora, most recently through the G7 leaders’ communique of 13 June. UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer, visited Ethiopia from 19–25 May, where he travelled to Tigray and engaged the Government of Ethiopia. He saw a hospital that had been bombed and government offices and stores of education and medical equipment that had been ransacked. His call for a humanitarian ceasefire has been joined by 17 other countries, the EU and the Pope at the time of writing. In 2020/21 the UK provided over £100m of humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia and to date has provided £47.7m specifically to the Tigray crisis response. Sexual violence is of particular concern, and we have deployed a UK expert to the region. Recommendations from this initial scoping mission will outline options for supporting the Government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and other key stakeholders to safely collect evidence and bring the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. The scoping mission report will also assist the UK in understanding next steps for addressing the immediate needs of the survivors, preventing further sexual violence and delivering justice and accountability. The UK is also supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN agencies, specialised NGOs and civil society partners to provide adequate essential services to survivors as well as supporting refugee survivors through the UN High Commission for Refugees.