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Netherlands Imposes Arms Embargo on Saudi Arabia For Role in Yemen War

The Netherlands has joined the bandwagon of countries imposing an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia for the Kingdom’s role in the Yemen War. It announced that it will cease arms exports to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt in protest against the killings in Yemen.

Saudi-UAE Bombardment Deaths in Yemen Reaches 50: Media Reports

A Dutch official said the government has tightened its conditions on arms exports to prevent their use in the war in Yemen. “There will be no arms exports from the Netherlands to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE unless it is proven that they will not be used in the Yemen war.”

The United Nations has described the Yemen war as a humanitarian catastrophe. There is repeated and well-documented attacks on civilian targets, including schools, school buses, hospitals, food supplies, water infrastructure and weddings. The UN has also warned of ‘the worst famine in the world in 100 years’. Reports show that at least 10,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict. And Save the Children has estimated that 85,000 children under the age of five have starved to death in war-torn Yemen.

The UN has strongly pointed out the civilian casualties caused by the Saudi coalition forces. The KSA and the UAE are part of the Arab coalition fighting in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The war began in 2015 to reinstate the UN-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Various human rights groups from all over the world have called for western countries to stop arms sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia which are being used to strike the innocent Yemeni civilians.

According to the Independent, the UK has licensed £2.7 billion worth of aircraft exports to the regime since the bombardment began and £1.9 billion worth of bombs and explosives. European governments, mainly Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Finland have halted the sale of weapons, while the UK hasn’t shown interest in joining this international effort.

More News at EurAsian Times

 

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