Last week, the government announced that it will drastically cut aid to Yemen, citing financial pressures from Covid-19.
The government’s decision comes after reports emerged earlier this year that the UK was planning to cut the legally mandated budget of 0.7 of national income on foreign aid projects.
The present situation in Yemen has been labelled the worst humanitarian crisis of all time by the United Nations.
According to UNICEF, 80% of Yemen’s population are currently in need of humanitarian aid and protection. Malnutrition is at an all-time high, with 2 million children acutely malnourished and 365,000 children under the age of five urgently needing life-saving food to survive.
The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, described the UK’s decision to reduce aid as a “death sentence”.
The UK was one of the highest donors to Yemen last year, donating more than $200 million, the third-highest amount behind Saudi Arabia ($459m) and the United States ($697m), according to the UN database.
The UK, which has been a leading supporter of the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition fighting in the war, has come under criticism for cutting aid but continuing to sell arms that could further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.
In parliament, Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer said: “Whilst President Biden has suspended arms sales that could be used in Yemen, the UK hasn’t”.
“In fact, Britain sold 1.4 billion pounds worth to Saudi Arabia in three months last year, including bombs and missiles that can be used in Yemen, and civilians could be caught between the Saudi coalition and Houthi rebels.”
President Biden pledged to end the US’ offensive operations by allies in Yemen in his first foreign policy speech back in February.
However, this isn’t the first time the UK has been under fire for Saudi arms sales, despite the risk of weapons being used to commit war crimes in Yemen.
In June 2019, The Court of Appeal in London ruled that it was unlawful for the UK government not to investigate whether there was a record of Saudi Arabia violating laws of war in Yemen, and before licensing arms sales.
According to Campaign Against Arms Trade, the UK has licensed a total of £6.8 billion worth of arms to Saudi forces since the bombing began in March 2015.
The UK’s biggest arms company, BAE Systems, has made £15 billion in revenue from services and sales to Saudi Arabia since 2015.
Sarah Waldron of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: “UK-made weapons have played a devastating role in the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen and the humanitarian crisis they have created, yet the government has done everything it can to keep the arms sales flowing.”
“They must change course now and work to support meaningful peace.”
The level of hypocrisy asks the question, how are the UK government working to end the war in Yemen, and what side of the war are we on?
Campaign Against Arms Trade has since filed a new legal challenge against the government’s decision to resume sales.
Millie Lockhart
Feature image courtesy of Peter Biro and EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid on Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.