The U.K. had approved sale of arms worth U.S. $ 1.9 billion to Saudi Arabia between July to September 2020
According to the data released by United Kingdom’s (U.K.’s) Department for International Trade on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, the U.K. had approved sale of arms worth U.S. $ 1.9 billion to Saudi Arabia between July to September 2020.
Prior to this, U.K. had a ban on selling arms to Gulf nations. The ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia came into effect in June 2019 after its High Court issued a landmark ruling forcing officials to pause sales over concerns of violation of international humanitarian law.
However, a review by the following Government concluded there had been isolated incidents of possible violations by Saudi forces in Yemen, but there is no clear risk of future serious breaches. Therefore, the U.K. was allowed to resume sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.
The figures come days after the President of the United States (U.S.) – Joe Biden said his country is ending all support, including sale of arms, for offensive operations by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, fighting the Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The U.K. based campaigning organisation working towards the abolition of the international arms trade – Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has condemned the move. It said that U.K. made weapons have played a devastating role in the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen, and that the U.K. Government has done everything it can to keep the arms sales flowing.
Taking it to twitter, CAAT tweeted,
Even the US is curbing its arms sales, but the UK government continues to fuel the war in #Yemen. New figures reveal £1.4 billion worth of arms exports licensed to Saudi Arabia, mainly bombs and missiles, between July-September 2020. https://t.co/T0byN324vf
— CAAT (@CAATuk) February 9, 2021
The arms exported included missiles and bombs worth U.S. $ 1.88 billion, although the figures did not state which manufacturers received the export authorisations.
Another human aid group Oxfam criticized U.K. for risking human lives in Yemen. However, U.K. has denied allegations of risking human lives. It said it has one of the most comprehensive export control regimes in the world. It also said that the Government takes its export responsibilities seriously and rigorously assesses all export licenses in accordance with strict licensing criteria. It assured that U.K. will not issue any export licenses where to do so would be inconsistent with these criteria.
The conflict in Yemen started in 2014 when the Houthis seized large swaths of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The war escalated in March 2015, when the Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened along with 9 countries from Middle East and Africa, in an attempt to restore the Government of pro-Saudi President of Yemen – Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The Saudi Arabia coalition has been assisted by several Western powers, including the U.S. and the U.K. According to CAAT, the U.K. has authorized arms sales worth U.S. $ 9.3 billion to Saudi Arabia since March 2015.
Both sides in Yemen’s conflict have since been accused of war crimes during fighting that has killed more than 110,000 people to date.
