Eritrea
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received concerning human rights in Eritrea; what representations he has made to the Government of Eritrea; and what sanctions are in place.

Mark Simmonds (Boston and Skegness, Conservative)

Eritrea's human rights record remains deeply concerning and this is reflected in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Human Rights Report. We closely monitor the human rights situation in Eritrea and our ambassador reports regularly on specific areas of concern. We also receive reports from other sources including the Diaspora and non-governmental organisations such as Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.

We regularly raise human rights issues with the Eritrean Government. Most recently, our ambassador raised human rights with President Isaias on 22 October. I also raised human rights with the Eritrean Presidential Advisor on 25 September. In July the UK supported the UN Human Rights Council Resolution which strongly condemned human rights abuses in Eritrea and called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur.

In July, the UK supported UN Security Council Resolution 2060 which extended the mandate for the UN sanctions regime. We believe the sanctions, which include an arms embargo, are appropriate, proportionate and carefully targeted to prevent any negative humanitarian impact.