Ethiopia (Hansard, 12 March 1990)

§ 80. Mr. Murphy
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any further information on food aid distribution to famine areas of Ethiopia.

§ Mrs. Chalker
The recent capture of the port of Massawa by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front is a serious setback to the relief effort and alternative means of delivering relief supplies to the hungry via the port of Assab are under urgent consideration by donors. The recent statement by the Government of Ethiopia that they will permit local Church organisations to open a relief corridor from the port of Assab into Tigray is a welcome step forward. It is vital that all parties to the conflict allow this relief operation to proceed without hindrance.

Dr. Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response his Department has made to the recent proposal for free passage of relief aid by the Tigray People's Liberation Front; and if he will raise this matter at his next meeting with the United Nations.

§ Mrs. Chalker
This proposal was made in response to a plan, agreed between the Ethiopian Government and a local Church group but rejected by the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, for distribution of relief supplies within Tigray. The plan has since been abandoned as a result of the capture of the port of Massawa by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front and other means of getting food to the hungry are under urgent consideration by donors.
I returned from Ethiopia yesterday. Following discussions there I am hopeful that arrangements made with the agreement of both the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front and the Government of Ethiopia will allow relief food supplies to cross into Wello and Tigray by what is known as the southern route and that the first convoy will leave this week. I have discussed arrangements in detail with the UN Secretary-General's special representative and other UN officials who are closely involved in Addis Ababa, as well as with the leaders of the joint relief partnership and President Mengistu and members of the Government of Ethiopia.