To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the humanitarian situation in Yemen's Saada province and (b) whether British arms and equipment exported to Saudi Arabia have been sued by Saudi-armed forces in Saada province; and if he will make a statement.
Answered on
21 July 2015
We are extremely concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. On 19 June, the Department for International Development announced a further £40 million to the humanitarian response, bringing the UK’s total commitment to £55 million for 2015.
We are not participating directly in Saudi Arabian led military operations in Yemen, but we are providing technical support, precision-guided weapons and exchanging information with the Saudi Arabian armed forces through pre-existing arrangements.
In addition to the personnel who continue to provide support for equipment supplied, we have a small number of liaison personnel in Saudi Arabia and coalition air and maritime headquarters. This includes personnel in the Maritime Coalition Coordination Centre in the region supporting the delivery of humanitarian aid into Yemen.