In a few days, the beginning of the civil anniversary of the war in Yemen for the fifth Time. The war erupted when the Houthi overthrew rebels, President Hadi and a coalition under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, Operation “Decisive Storm” began.
tens of thousands of Yemeni children have since died. They were killed by Saudi air strikes or missiles, the Huthi or died of malnutrition, Cholera and other diseases. Hundreds of thousands of other children are faced daily with these deadly threats.
And even if you survive this conflict that will carry millions of Yemeni children’s physical and emotional scars of it, and into adulthood of the horrors of war be marked, not least due to the fact that educational opportunities remain unavailable.
During the entire war, all European countries the question had to deal with how to respond to the rising number of civilian deaths and the escalating humanitarian crisis. Too many of our governments have taken advantage of the Situation, just shrugging to the knowledge.
they are calling for a truce, urging the establishment of humanitarian corridors and condemn the Houthi rebels for their atrocities. You Express your concern, if there is a wedding, a funeral or a school bus of a Saudi bomb is made, and the coalition urge to end the Blockade of the ports of Yemen, and to allow food and medicine into the country.
But in the end, most of these governments, at times in spite of their lip service to the war only more, by selling Saudi Arabia and its allies, aircraft, and weapons, with which they conduct their air strikes, a deadly Blockade to enforce and their ground offensive against the Houthi-held towns.
During the coalition talks in January 2018, however, the SPD took the folder in Hand and pressed for a restrictive stance in the case of weapons exports to such countries, which are directly involved in the war in Yemen. In the British Parliament, Germany’s decision limiting the use of weapons was welcomed exports across party lines as an example, the whole of the West should follow, especially after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul that has all of us made it clear what the Saudi government is actually on.
Clear response to Khashoggi-murder needed
Theresa May, however, take a different view, which is why we had to in the past month, the spectacle, that the British performed the foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt during his visit in Berlin, as he taught the Federal government to the profits of the arms industry more important than the lives of innocent people in Yemen.
We as the SPD and the Labour MPs in Berlin and London, the view of the British government not to share. We strongly support the decision by the Federal government to show a clear and unequivocal response to the outrageous murder of Jamal Khashoggi. It was, therefore, entirely correctly, that they reaffirmed this week their attitude and the pressure on other countries to follow this example.
And the other countries to hear. The measures of the Federal government have found in London, Paris, and especially in Washington. In Washington, Donald Trump will be soon forced his Veto as President, when he wants to get the support of the Americans for the war in Yemen in an upright position.
rule-based world order
We believe it is time to strengthen the European Ideal. We are, in the best sense, a community of democracies on the basis of common values. Our approach to international relations based on cooperation, with the aim of a rule-based world order, to maintain.
the principle is, above all, that our countries should not sell weapons to countries that use them for violations of international law or the abuse of human rights, and that we should strive in conflict regions to promote peace instead of weapons sales, as this is already in the Common position 2008/944/CFSP of the European Council of 8. December 2008 was declared.
The decision on arms sales for use in the war in Yemen, would be contrary to this principle completely. Therefore, we think it is right to refuse this, and are very grateful that British MPs of all parties continue to urge your government to strongly associate themselves with this decision.
Arabian Peninsula does not need more weapons
We all know that we are not allowed to leave beyond the rules, for which we stand, and beyond the headlines, on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Arabian a conflict region is a Peninsula. The Region needs is not more weapons, but peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations and its special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffith. What must determine our Actions, especially the fate of the in Yemen killed men, women and children, the number of month-to-month, increases year by year.
Finally, what is expressed by the Doctor, Dr. Mekkia Mahdi recently told journalists the New York Times in your hospital in the North of Yemen, in the malnourished children, pushing them on the brink of starvation on a daily basis as a result of this brutal war and dying: “We are surprised that this is the case, Khashoggi learns so much attention while millions of children suffer in Yemen and no one a Whit interested in you.”
their fate, however, of interest to all of us and therefore, we call on our governments to make policies in the forefront, and to support peace talks, instead of providing even more weapons in countries at war, in which innocent people are the political power struggles fall victim to.
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Yemen war in the US Senate no longer wants to support Saudi Arabia
Rolf Mützenich, Deputy Chairman of the SPD group in the Bundestag. Emily Thornberry is Labour MP in the UK, and “shadow foreign Minister”.