Yemen

Catherine West Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

May I say what a pleasure it is to be here for my first debate with you in the Chair, Mr Turner? I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) for securing the debate and bringing the situation in Yemen to our attention. Many of us across the House have spoken on this issue in the past, including the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mrs Drummond) and my hon. Friends the Members for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz) and for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger). It is an important issue.

My own research has brought to light what Mr Adam Baron of the European Council on Foreign Relations said—that in the end, all Yemenis will be the victims of such a protracted war and that

“The truth…is that no one is winning this war. And while all parties involved in Yemen seem far from reaching their goals, there is one clear loser: the Yemeni people.”

That sentiment has been strongly reflected in our debate this afternoon, focusing on the humanitarian aspects of the situation and joining with the UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who said in March this year that Yemen was being brought to the edge of civil war. I believe that even since March, the situation has deteriorated.

We know from various groups that are active in Yemen—where they can get into Yemen, if the ports are not blocked—that there are big problems of food poverty and a real risk of massive malnutrition. There are problems with access to clean water and the availability of crucial medicines, but that is not all; we are also aware of the lack of the rule of law, which of course leads to risks in particular of violence against women, as well as of other crimes going undetected. I wish to mention in particular the assault on Taiz, where the number of people in critical need of safe drinking water surpassed 3.3 million in September to October, according to World Health Organisation reports. UNICEF has said:

“If there isn’t the humanitarian support to the country, in six months or a year’s time, you will get a major humanitarian crisis”.

That point has been covered very well during the debate, so I will now press the Minister for his response on some important matters.

First, will the Minister comment on the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Kate Osamor) about the need for an independent assessment of the situation, in particular in relation to the coalition and the bombing campaign? Will he assure hon. Members that we are doing everything possible both to call for a ceasefire and to support everyone involved to get round the table and seek that ceasefire? Secondly—I know this is a concern for all citizens—will he give an assurance that armaments produced in the UK are not being used in the conflict to bring harm to civilians, women and children in Yemen?

Through treaties, UN declarations and work across the globe, we have come miles in the past 20 years on the issue of child soldiers. We know that once children are involved in conflict, it leads to conflict for generations. Will the Minister give us an assurance that he and his Department are doing all they can, with others, to stop the use of child soldiers in Yemen?

Will the Minister update us on other conversations that may be happening and that he is able to make public today? What pressure is he bringing to bear on the various parties involved in the conflict? We know that, because of our history with regard to Yemen—that has been eloquently described in today’s debate—Britain has a lot of influence. How is that influence being used for a positive solution, which many people are pushing us for? The Prime Minister said that he lent his “firm political support” to airstrikes earlier this year. Does that remain the case? Do the Government feel that this action is still effective or that it is worsening the situation? There are no real winners in this situation, so will the Minister tell us what support we are providing, as a nation, in relation to this conflict?

[Keith Vaz]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on making her maiden Front-Bench speech. It would be good to have her support on British citizens who are still in Yemen and cannot come out, for whatever reason. Other Governments—the Indian Government, for example—have sent in aircraft to take their citizens out, but at the moment British citizens have to go to Somalia and on occasion through Djibouti to get back to the UK. Does she agree that if British citizens want to return, it is important that they are helped to do so as quickly as possible?

[Catherine West]

I do indeed. I also support the point made by other Members about resolving asylum cases in the UK; it seems perverse that we could be returning people to the Yemen in the current climate. Will the Minister cover those issues in his remarks?

To sum up, we are asking that the Government work much more energetically towards immediate negotiations without preconditions, following our support on paper for UN Security Council resolution 2216. Secondly, we ask for clarification on how much support the Government are able to give the UN special envoy—their support seems a little cool at the moment. Thirdly, will the Minister give us evidence of his activity and achievements, as well as those of his Department, in behind-the-scenes discussions? We need much more of a push on that. There needs to be an end to the recruitment and fielding of child soldiers, given the long-term implications of using children as soldiers in conflicts. I conclude by reminding Members that at this point we must not think too much about our strategic situation—although that does sometimes get lost—but about those people to whom we have a duty as human beings. We know that no one is winning this war, so we must reach out, unlock the humanitarian aid waiting at the ports, and do as much as we can to end this terrible conflict.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Ellwood]

I always want to listen to my hon. Friend; he speaks volumes.

It is a delight to see the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Ms Ahmed-Sheikh) in her place. She has a lot of knowledge of middle eastern matters. She spoke of the Daesh threat, which I have covered, and what more work DFID can do in this area. I will pass that on to the Minister of State, Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne). She also touched on the conduct of war and the importance of watching out for alleged war crimes.

I will cover another basic issue that was raised: the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. Nations have a right to defend themselves. They also have a right to join in coalitions and, if invited, to participate and to protect another country. President Hadi has made that request. The coalition has been formed. Had that not happened, the Houthis would have flushed out any legitimate Government support, all the way down to the port of Aden. We must keep a careful watch on the conduct of war, but we have the right to sell arms. We have one of the most robust arms sales policies and one of the most transparent export programmes in the world.

[Catherine West]

Can the Minister rule out that any British-manufactured arms have been used in this conflict by coalition partners?

[Mr Ellwood]

I can confirm that they probably have been used. We sell arms to Saudi Arabia. They are using weapons systems that we sell. The more pertinent question is: are they being used responsibly? That is the more important question. We need to ensure they are used in a responsible manner.

[Catherine West]

Is that therefore a breach of our arms export guidelines in this conflict?

[Mr Ellwood]

No, it is not. I will make it very clear: the coalition that has been formed is legitimate. The legal basis for military intervention follows President Hadi’s request to the United Nations Security Council and, indeed, the Gulf Co-operation Council, in support of UN Security Council resolution 2216, for

“all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter Houthi aggression”.

Therefore, the concept and principle of using warfare in such a manner is legitimate; the real issue, widely put by everyone, is about making sure that any arms are used according to the Geneva conventions. That is what we need to ensure and to find out. If there is evidence to suggest otherwise, we will look at things. As we have discussed in the main Chamber in the case of Israel, we review export licences if evidence is given to us to suggest that equipment has not been used as agreed.