Yemen in crisis
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The war torn country of Yemen is facing a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions. The culprit appears to be the Saudi Kingdom which is being sold arms by the UK and the USA at an astronomical rate.
The conflict within Yemen has seen the humanitarian crisis swell to unimaginable proportions. Seven million people are facing starvation, two million of which are children. There have been cholera outbreaks and as of April this year 380000 people have been infected (Private Eye, August, 2017).
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ABC news and Private Eye Magazine have highlighted the devastation that is being rought on the Yemeni people. In a Private Eye article – Yemen Watch – it reveals that the Saudi Kingdom own more British made war planes than the RAF (Private Eye, August, 2017). Under president Obama the US sold $100bn worth of arms to Saudi and on the 21st of May Donald Trump announced that a further $100bn of arms trades will be approved (Jane’s 360, August, 2017).
Although the Saudi Kingdom has been linked to extremism, which has recently been disclosed by the Jackson Society (Private Eye, July, 2017), the leaders of the UK and the US appear to be intent on providing the supply of weaponary to the Saudi Kingdom. The UN has clearly pointed the finger at the Saudi’s and their western backers. However, Saudi officials are adamant that they are only attacking Al Qaeda targets, within Yemen (Private Eye, August, 2017).
Amber Rudd, the U.K. Home Secretary, continues to defend the UK’s arms sales to the Saudi Kingdom, which has now totalled £3.5bn. Her justification for this is the potential influence that the UK can have over Saudi policy by engaging in arms deals. In addition she states that it is imperative for the UK’s own defence (Private Eye, August, 2017).
The struggle for power between the Sunni president Abdrabbuh Mansor and the Shia Houtis looks set to continue to wreak havoc in the country. The legitimisation of Saudi’s bombing of Yemeni civilian targets continues unabated by western democracies. This has resulted in the blockading of the country, meaning that essential food and medical supplies cannot reach civilians (ABC, August, 2017). The Saudi’s have justified targeting food supplies as a means to prevent arms being smuggled into Yemen with food cargo (Private Eye, August, 2017). Intervention is imperative to ensuring that further unnecessary civilian deaths do not occur.
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