We consistently raise the need to improve the human rights situation with the Eritrean Government. We advocate for national service reform and the end of arbitrary detentions, including detentions based on religion or belief. Eritrea is a priority country in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report and we support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2023. As we have stated at the Human Rights Council, all those who have been unjustly incarcerated must be released.

We consistently raise the need to improve the human rights situation with the Eritrean Government. We advocate for national service reform and the end of arbitrary detentions, including detentions based on religion or belief. Eritrea is a priority country in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report and we support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2023. As we have stated at the Human Rights Council, all those who have been unjustly incarcerated must be released.

What recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the human rights situation in Eritrea.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Eritrea, I often hear the country described as the North Korea of Africa. Young people are conscripted indefinitely, and critics of the regime are arbitrarily detained and disappeared. Does the Minister agree that that perhaps explains why over 90% of asylum claims from Eritreans in the UK are granted by the Home Office? What more can the Government do to take steps to ensure an end to human rights abuses in Eritrea and elsewhere in the horn of Africa, which are push factors behind irregular arrivals in the UK?

We must not forget the abuses that are happening in neighbouring Sudan. Over 7 million people have been internally displaced, with 20 million in desperate need of humanitarian aid. Last night, the International Criminal Court prosecutor told the UN Security Council that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both the Sudan armed forces and the rapid support forces are committing atrocious crimes in Darfur. What hope does the Minister have that we can end the impunity, stop the rapes, murder and pillage, and bring peace to the people of Sudan?

We continue to press Eritrea bilaterally and at the UN Human Rights Council to end human rights violations. It may come as a surprise to the House to hear that Eritrea is an elected member of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Home Office are working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to process 16 Eritrean Nationals who hold UK visas and are trying to exit Ethiopia, 10 of whom are unaccompanied minors, to enable them to travel to the UK as soon as their exit visas are granted. The FCDO and our embassies, high commissions and consulates worldwide provide consular assistance to British nationals abroad. We cannot provide consular support to other countries' nationals, even if they have been living legally in the UK or have close connections to the UK.

We continue to engage the Ethiopian government on peace within the country and in the region. On 27 October, the British Ambassador to Ethiopia told Ethiopia's national security advisor that Red Sea port access should not be pursued by aggression. To mark the one year anniversary of the Pretoria peace deal, the British Embassy Addis Ababa coordinated a joint statement with Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, which called for further progress on implementation, including the full withdrawal of Eritrean and non-government forces from Ethiopia. The UK is also contributing funding to the African Union's Monitoring, Compliance and Verification Mechanism to support implementation, and we continue to press the government of Ethiopia, and all armed actors, to resolve their disputes through inclusive dialogue.

HMG are working alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with the Federal Government of Ethiopia, and have agreed a process to issue Exit Visas for Eritreans who hold visas for the United Kingdom. HMG is now working with the ICRC to process outstanding cases and enable them to travel to the United Kingdom as soon as their exit visas are granted.

Recent events involving members of the Eritrean community in the UK have, on occasions, led to public disorder and arrests. Ahead of a planned and subsequently cancelled event in the London Borough of Harrow in July, FCDO officials and officers from the Metropolitan Police met with staff from the Eritrean embassy to discuss security plans and arrangements. The FCDO plus relevant police forces and councils will engage with the UK Eritrean community and Eritrean embassy ahead of other events.

Whilst we are unaware of reports of recent violence, the UK has consistently highlighted human rights issues in Eritrea including through the UK's Human Rights Ambassador.

We continue to take an active interest in the human rights situation in Eritrea and particularly press for national service reform and the end of arbitrary detentions, including for those detentions based on religion or belief. All of those who have been unfairly and unjustly incarcerated must be released. We urge implementation of the recommendations from the last Universal Periodic Review for Eritrea in 2019, and respect for the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Eritrea. We will be making a statement to this effect at the UN Human Rights Council's 53rd Session during an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur.

Freedom of religion or belief, of the media and of travel are important rights. The British Embassy in Asmara regularly raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government, with the freedom of religion or belief being one of the UK's priorities; the Embassy has consistently called for the release of those arbitrarily incarcerated for their religion. The UK has encouraged the Eritrean Government to implement in full the agreed recommendations of the 2019 UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, through which we have raised our views, and to cooperate with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Eritrea.

Freedom of religion or belief, of the media and of travel are important rights. The British Embassy in Asmara regularly raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government, with the freedom of religion or belief being one of the UK's priorities; the Embassy has consistently called for the release of those arbitrarily incarcerated for their religion. The UK has encouraged the Eritrean Government to implement in full the agreed recommendations of the 2019 UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, through which we have raised our views, and to cooperate with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Eritrea.

Freedom of religion or belief, of the media and of travel are important rights. The British Embassy in Asmara regularly raises human rights issues with the Eritrean Government, with the freedom of religion or belief being one of the UK's priorities; the Embassy has consistently called for the release of those arbitrarily incarcerated for their religion. The UK has encouraged the Eritrean Government to implement in full the agreed recommendations of the 2019 UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, through which we have raised our views, and to cooperate with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Eritrea.

Although we have no estimation of the number of Eritrean troops in Tigray during these specific periods, or the number currently remaining, we reiterate our calls for Eritrean forces to leave. The November 2022 Pretoria and Nairobi peace agreements are contingent upon Eritrean troops pulling out of Tigray. Eritrea must not be a barrier to peace in northern Ethiopia or hinder humanitarian access going to those affected by the conflict.

We are aware of the missing journalists, including the dual Swedish-Eritrean national Dawit Isaak, who disappeared in September 2001. Although there are no recent updates as to their current status and welfare, we frequently raise concerns about human rights with the Government of Eritrea. Eritrea consistently ranks towards the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, with internal media operated by the state. Through our Embassy in Asmara and with international partners, we continue to call upon the Government of Eritrea to release all those who have been arbitrarily incarcerated for their freedom of expression, religious or political beliefs.

UK Aid to Eritrea is provided through UN agencies not directly. That assistance through UN agencies has funded life-saving humanitarian assistance work in Eritrea since 2011. £700,000 has been committed through the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 2022/23 to help treat and prevent malnutrition in children and women, aiming to reach more than 200,000 civilians. We also supported the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and a local Non-Governmental Organisation during 2021/22 with a total of £180,000 funding to deliver small projects on renewable energy, biodiversity and girls' education. Although the number of humanitarian organisations able to work in Eritrea is limited and access restricted, the UK has an established partnership with UNICEF through which it is able to support vulnerable populations.

The UK welcomes the important step towards peace taken by the Ethiopian Government and Tigray People's Liberation Front in signing a cessation of hostilities on 2 November, and commends their choice to end the devastating two-year-long conflict. We are grateful to the leadership shown in brokering this critical agreement by African Union Commission Chairperson Faki, African Union High Representative to the Horn of Africa Obasanjo, former South African Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Kenyan President Kenyatta, and the South African Government in hosting the talks. The UK is ready to support the peace process. Our Embassy in Addis Ababa will discuss ways that we can support the implementation of the peace agreement with the Ethiopian Government and the African Union.