Public outcry looms over the UK’s contradictory policy towards Yemen

Continuing UK support to the Saudi-led bombing and de-facto blockade of Yemen is helping to contribute to what is the most severe global humanitarian crisis in the world today. The UK’s support for this counterproductive military campaign is driven by its close relationship with Saudi Arabia, and betrays fundamental contradictions in UK foreign policy.

On 25 March of this year, a coalition of nations led by Saudi Arabia responded to exiled President Hadi’s request to combat Houthi rebels by “all means and measures”, a campaign which the UK has publicly endorsed. Moves by Houthi forces and former president Saleh had already led to civil conflict in Yemen. The airstrikes, however, combined with an air and sea blockade that has prevented vital food and fuel supplies from reaching Yemenis who are in need, have exacerbated the fighting on the ground, decreased incentives for negotiation and created a desperate situation for civilians in an already fragile and vulnerable country.

The UK government has clearly acknowledged the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis: almost 2,000 civilians killed, 80% of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, 12.9 million people facing food shortages, and two thirds of the population without access to clean water and sanitation. The UN has declared a level-3 humanitarian crisis in Yemen, its highest possible level. Yet even these numbers do not convey the devastating long-term consequences that the Yemeni population will face, even when the fighting comes to an end.

The UK government has also been keen to emphasise its £55 million contribution from the Department for International Development (DFID) for humanitarian relief. However, it has been less keen to publicise its ongoing arms exports to Saudi Arabia and its close military relationship with that country. Answers to parliamentary questions have repeatedly asserted that the UK is not directly participating in the military campaign. However, as well as affirming its political support, the UK continues to provide technical support, precision-guided weapons and exchange of information to the Saudi military. In addition, UK personnel are based in Saudi Arabia to support the equipment supplied, and there are liaisons based directly in the coalition headquarters.

The government has not made any moves to assess its defence relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of the widely criticised campaign in Yemen: to the contrary, by 1 July 2015 37 export licences for military goods had been granted to Saudi Arabia since the bombardment began, while many more licences agreed previously remain extant. There are no plans to review any of those licences. It has also failed to recognise the coalition’s blockade of air, sea and land routes, referring only to “the obstruction to the delivery of humanitarian assistance” and failing to note the responsibility for blocking commercial shipping to a country heavily dependent on imports for staple foods.

As the months pass and the plight of the Yemeni population worsens, there has been little challenge from within government, Parliament or the media to the UK’s support for Saudi-led military intervention. Reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have provided evidence that the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly violated the laws of war. On 18 April, for example, Saudi airstrikes destroyed an Oxfam aid warehouse in Sa’ada. Yet the UK Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office repeated assurances from the Saudi Arabian-led coalition that they are “complying with International Humanitarian Law”.

The UK government appears to be prepared to disregard the impact of the military intervention in Yemen in the interest of maintaining its relationship with Saudi Arabia – a relationship that is largely defined by the value of its defence exports as well as other security, intelligence and trade arrangements. In private, British officials have been pushing back on the Saudi coalition’s tactics, yet this quiet diplomacy has been ineffective. The UK is making important contributions to the humanitarian response in Yemen, but its public endorsement of the coalition campaign undermines any prospects of a political solution. In order to address this fundamental contradiction in UK foreign policy, the UK needs to withdraw its support for the coalition campaign and undertake a serious re-assessment of its relationship with Saudi Arabia and other powerful Gulf states. As a useful first step, it should reconsider the presence and role of the British advisors within the Saudi’s military strategy units and cease any arms deliveries that are materially assisting the coalition campaign.

Zarina Khan is UK Advocacy Officer, Leonie Northedge is MENA Programme Manager.

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“The UK government appears to be prepared to disregard the impact of the military intervention in Yemen in the interest of maintaining its relationship with Saudi Arabia.”

Zarina Khan, Léonie Northedge