It is deeply concerning that Mr. Tsege remains in detention in Ethiopia and that the legal process has made little progress.
I am encouraged that the UK government has made some progress in improving conditions for Mr. Tsege; Ministerial lobbying resulted in Mr. Tsege’s transfer to a normal federal prison in July and frequent consular access.
However, further progress is still necessary. I remain concerned about the process by which Mr. Tsege was detained and his ongoing lack of access to legal counsel. The Foreign Secretary has made clear to the Ethiopian Government that their continued failure to grant the UK Government’s basic requests was unacceptable and the lack of progress risked undermining the UK’s bilateral relationship with Ethiopia.