Help Stop the War in Ethiopia!

MPs and Lords can do these three things to help save innocent lives

The situation in the Northern region of Ethiopia, Tigray, although obscured by media shut-downs, is most likely much worse than reports tell us. Recent official figures suggest more than 600 civilians have already died and an expected 200,000 (including displaced Eritreans) will have fled to Sudan. Across social media from inside the country there are 1000s of pleas help as well as videos capturing horrific violence against innocent civilians, suggesting the conflict is far from over and risks an already unstable situation in the Horn of Africa and Gulf.

Government troops under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s leadership launched an offensive on Tigray on 4th November, following an alleged provocation by official members of the regional party — the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Although Ahmed declared the offensive has ended after reaching the capital city, Mekelle, fighting between government troops and TPLF forces continues and has destabilised an already crisis-vulnerable region — facing more frequent droughts due to global heating, a recent devastating locust invasion destroying farmland and the coronavirus.

Acknowledging efforts already being untaken by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, other political agencies and representatives, as a concerned British citizen, I am asking MPs and Lords to use their powers to help alleviate the situation.

What MPs and Lords can do:

1. Write to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office including Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb and the United Kingdom envoy for the Horn and Red Sea.
2. Raise the issue in the House of Commons or Lords as a Private Notice Question. The speech will then be publically recorded and likely reach the media.
3. Outside of Parliament, speak at an online event or write to national/local media.

What they can ask diplomats to do:

• Protect civilians and facilitate the peace process through calling Ahmed and TPLF leaders to come to the negotiating table.
• Collaborate with the African Union, already conducting peace-building efforts.
• Raise the issue within the UN General Assembly to mobilise international pressure.
• Ensure humanitarian aid can enter the region so that organisations such as UNHCR Ethiopia and the World Food Programme (WFP) can deliver much needed aid, through direct funds and logistical support.
• Open an FCO enquiry to investigate the issue, collaborating with experts from within the region and overseas.
• Facilitate organisations to investigate war crimes, such as attacks on refugee camps and innocent civilians.

The situation is hugely complex and is becoming more threatening and destabilising each day. This does not mean we cannot do anything to help. There are already promising international diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, but there is always more that can be done. UK MPs and Lord can and should use their soft powers to do so.