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News ID: 63168
Publish Date : 16 February 2019 - 21:17

UK Arms Sales to Saudi Causing ‘Significant’ Civilian Deaths in Yemen

LONDON (Dispatches) – British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are causing "significant civilian casualties” in Yemen and are probably illegal, a UK damning parliamentary report says.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s refusal to curb weapons exports has been condemned by peers who conclude it is "on the wrong side” of international humanitarian law.
The prime minister has faced down calls for a ban – on sales worth a staggering £4.7bn since the brutal war in Yemen began in 2015 – despite the growing humanitarian disaster.
An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five have died from extreme hunger or disease in a war between a Saudi-led coalition and Iran-backed rebels. Up to 14 million people are at risk of famine.
Independent experts have highlighted "extraordinary rates of civilian deaths by airstrikes” carried out by the Saudi coalition, with about 166 people dying every month last autumn.
Now the House of Lords International Relations Committee says the prime minister must rein in arms sales to Riyadh "as a matter of urgency” – describing the situation in the country as "unconscionable”.
"We do not agree with the government’s assertion that it is narrowly on the right side of international humanitarian law in the case of licensing arms exports to the Saudi-led coalition,” said Lord Howell, its Conservative chairman.
"It is narrowly on the wrong side: given the volume and type of arms being exported to the Saudi-led coalition, we believe they are highly likely to be the cause of significant civilian casualties in Yemen, risking the violation of international humanitarian law.
"The government must address the root causes of the suffering – the conflict itself – and be prepared to suspend some key export licenses to Saudi Arabia and members of the coalition.”
The brutal war is being led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, who wishes to reinstate Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and destroy the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
Thousands of civilians have been killed, while thousands more have been injured. Collapsed infrastructure coupled with a partial blockade has also deprived most of the population of clean water and proper healthcare, while unleashing the worst cholera outbreak in modern history.

Britain has signed off £3.3 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia since March 26, 2015, when it launched a war in Yemen.