Yemen: Overseas Aid

(asked on 25th April 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what guarantees her Department sought from the Saudi government on (a) humanitarian access to Yemen and (b) ending Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, in advance of signing the £100 million humanitarian aid deal announced on 7 March 2018.


Answered by
Alistair Burt Portrait
Alistair Burt
This question was answered on 2nd May 2018

The UK is a critical friend of Saudi Arabia and our strong relationship means we are able to raise difficult issues more effectively. We have led the call for unhindered humanitarian and commercial access into Yemen, including through the UK-coordinated Security Council Statement of 15 March, the Secretary of State’s visit to Riyadh in December and lobbying from the Prime Minister. Most recently, during the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to London in early March, Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to work together with the UK to strengthen the UN’s mechanism for inspecting ships so that all Yemeni ports can remain fully open to commercial and humanitarian supplies. During this visit, we also agreed with the Saudi Fund for Development that we would contribute £50 million each to support development in East Africa – the ‘£100 million humanitarian aid deal’ referred to in the question.

The UK has been clear that there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen and we have continuously lobbied all sides to urgently de-escalate the fighting and find a comprehensive political solution. We also regularly press, including at senior levels, the need for the Saudi-led Coalition to conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law.

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