Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 26
Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
Published 30 Apr 2021
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Humanitarian crises monitoring: Ethiopia’s Tigray region All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Paul Turnbull, Deputy Country Director and Representative of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia, said: The situation in November and December was really terrible. It was not until about the middle of December that ICRC, and then WFP, could deliver anything from outside of Tigray. There was no movement from the stocks that were already in Mekelle, because there was no fuel. There was just no way to move things from Mekelle to the other areas.62 50 The current desert locust outbreak is the worst in 25 years. 51 OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview Ethiopia, February 2021, p.6 52 OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview Ethiopia, February 2021, p.6 53 OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview Ethiopia, February 2021, p.10 54 UNHCR, Situation Update: Ethiopia, Tigray, 3 March 2021, p.2 55 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 30 March 2021, p.1 56 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 13 March 2021, p.1 57 International Medical Corps, Ethiopia–Tigray Region Humanitarian Update Situation Report #6, 18 March 2021, p.1 58 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 13 March 2021, p.8; See also Q10 and Q17 59 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 13 March 2021, p.2 60 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 13 March 2021, p.8 61 Q21 62 Q8 [Paul Turnbull] The humanitarian situation in Tigray 15 UNICEF have said that humanitarian aid alone is not enough, and that, Monitoring, reporting and protection services for those affected must be urgently expanded to meet the growing needs of survivors.63
From: International Development Committee, Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray, 30 April 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 16 July 2021.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it agrees with the Committee's four core areas for future action, while saying all four are "predicated on an end to fighting", and it responds to the individual recommendations with a mix of continuing action and some stated disagreement.
- On genocide, it says its "longstanding position is that any determination of genocide is an issue for competent courts, rather than governments", and that its focus is on ending violence and protecting civilians.
- It does not accept the call for a separate atrocity prevention strategy, saying it does "not assess that a separate atrocity prevention strategy is necessary" as the work is already in existing work streams.
- It says it does "not share" the assessment that the WFP head's visit improved access, pointing to continuing problems with communications equipment and travel approvals.
- On reconstruction, it says it is "too early for detailed reconstruction planning" but that some initial consideration of recovery planning "will commence at an early stage". On funding, it cites £47.7m to the Tigray response and says it keeps support under review.