Local Editor
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Monday called on governments selling weapons to the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen to halt weapons sales and end its hypocrisy regarding the crisis there.
“We need to see an end to the hypocrisy of nations trading in arms or raining down shells and bombs on Yemeni civilians caught in crossfire,” said NRC's Secretary General Jan Egeland in a statement ahead of the Yemen pledging conference in Geneva on 26 February.
Saudi Arabia is spearheading a coalition of mainly Sunni Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt that has bombing Yemen since 2015.
Egeland stated that the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as the UK “have, with other nations on both sides, contributed to the war, which has produced the shocking 24 million Yemenis in need of aid.”
NRC urged governments who are not involved in the brutal war to provide financial assistance, adding that “Yemenis need much more than just money.”
“They need an end to interference by political and military authorities in aid delivery. They also need a lifting of the blockade, all ports and airports reopened, public services restored, and a nation-wide ceasefire so that talks can bring an end to the conflict. This is the only way to break the vicious cycle of human suffering,” the statement concluded.
The Saudi-led military aggression on Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions of others and destroyed the country’s infrastructure. The war has also caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
