OXFAM last night urged the UK Government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, as ministers pledged more aid to ease suffering in Yemen caused by the war the arms are fuelling.
International Development Secretary Priti Patel yesterday issued a lengthy statement announcing an additional £37 million in aid this year, stating: “We cannot and will not stand back in silence whilst innocent people are suffering.”
However, the funding, which takes the UK total aid to Yemen to £100m, comes against a backdrop of £3.3 billion of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the country leading coalition airstrikes in Yemen.
Two separate Commons committees have called for a halt in the trade amidst mounting pressure for an inquiry into alleged war crimes by Saudi Arabia against Yemeni citizens.
More than one third of air sorties are said to have hit civilian sites, with homes, hospitals, warehouses and food factories destroyed.
About 20 people are reported to have died in one strike in the west of Yemen on Wednesday, and earlier this year Amnesty International released a report documenting an attack on a rural village in which a banned cluster munition made in the UK is alleged to have been used.
Patel hosted a high-level meeting on Yemen at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to raise funds for humanitarian supplies, including water, food and shelter.
Illness and malnutrition is widespread in the country, where healthcare has been crippled and vital food imports – which made up 90 per cent of supplies before the conflict began – have been all but cut off.
According to Oxfam, more than 14 million people, half of the population, is going hungry.
Patel said: “The international community must step up its response to match the seriousness of the challenges faced by people in Yemen.
“The UK has provided food, water, shelter and medical supplies for more than a million desperate people in Yemen and our new support will help even more. But the international response remains critically underfunded. I urge other countries to follow Britain’s lead and make good on their commitments – only by working together we can help stem this disaster.
“We cannot and will not stand back in silence while innocent people are suffering from a lack of basic provisions such as food and clean water.”
Responding to the comments, Oxfam said: “The humanitarian crisis in Yemen gets worse by the day. More than 80 per cent of the population rely on humanitarian aid for their survival. UK aid will help where it is needed.
“But while one part of the UK Government generously gives aid another part continues to license the supply of arms that fuel this war and add to the suffering of people in Yemen.
“The government needs to join itself up, end the supply of military support and work to bring this war to an end.”
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