The Bishop of Worcester received the following written answers on 13th July 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that soldiers from Eritrea are using food as a weapon of war in Tigray.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con, Foreign Office): The Government is deeply concerned about the grave humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and combatants, including Eritrean armed forces, denying access to humanitarian agencies.
Over 350,000 people are assessed to be in famine-like conditions – more than anywhere else in the world. The UK’s Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer visited Tigray in May and concluded that region-wide famine in Tigray is now likely if conflict intensifies and impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid continue. The head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, has said that the humanitarian disaster is due in part to the presence of Eritrean forces. He says they are using hunger as a weapon of war and their continued presence is fuelling insecurity. Intentional use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.
We need to see the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces. The Government of Ethiopia has said this will happen, but it has not. We continue to press hard for this commitment to be delivered. The Minister for Africa made this clear when he met with the Eritrean Ambassador on 16 March.
The Lord Bishop of Worcester asked Her Majesty’s Government:
- what assessment they have made of food security in Tigray; and what steps they are taking to respond to cases of acute malnutrition amongst children under five years of age in that region.
- what discussions they have had with the government of Ethiopia about the need for unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government is deeply concerned about the grave humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and we have been consistent in calling for unfettered humanitarian access and continue to do so. We are deeply concerned about the impact of the conflict on food security and nutrition in Tigray, including for young children. Over 350,000 people are assessed to be in famine-like conditions – more than anywhere else in the world. We have raised these points with the Government in Addis Ababa consistently and at the highest levels, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer, in May.
On 14 June the Minister for Africa announced the UK will allocate £16.7m to the crisis in Tigray. This will support civil-military coordination to help aid get to those in need and address famine risk through the provision of healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition. This allocation is on top of the existing £27m in 2020-21 already directed to the response, and an additional £4m allocated to support nutrition and vaccinations in Tigray. This brings UK total funding to support response to the crisis to £47.7m. As the Minister for Africa said in his recent statement of 23 June, we urge all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, respect international humanitarian law and agree an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.