Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL3982):
Question by Lord ALTON of Liverpool :
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Eritrean soldiers continue to target civilians in the Tigray region of Ethiopia following the cessation of hostilities on 2 November; and what assistance they are providing to the affected communities. (HL3982)
Tabled on: 05 December 2022
Answer:
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park:
The presence of Eritrean forces in Tigray has fuelled the conflict in northern Ethiopia making its resolution more difficult. The peace agreement is clear that Ethiopian Government forces will safeguard the sovereignty of the country and prevent provocation or incursion on either side of the border. We continue to urge the Eritrean Government to withdraw its troops in support of this peace agreement.
According to the UN, approximately 5.4 million people in Tigray require life-saving aid. In the last nineteen months the UK has provided nearly £90 million to communities across Ethiopia affected by crises, including Tigray. Our partners on the ground are responding to the current crisis with UK funding, including via the £6 million we contributed to the Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund in August 2022 and via the £14 million for UNICEF announced during the former Minister for Development’s recent visit to Ethiopia and disbursed to UNICEF in November.
Date and time of answer: 22 Dec 2022 at 11:55.
