People hold a wheelchair recovered from under the wreckage of a house at the site of a Saudi-led air strike on an outskirt of the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen August 4, 2017. Picture by: NAIF RAHMA/Reuters/PA Images. All rights reserved. Many Yemenis increasingly see the UK’s arms sales in recent years as a vote in favour of the war in their country, – a sign of its complicity. While trade and arms deals have brought in billions in recent years, the deals are damaging the UK’s international reputation.
As the Yemeni crisis deteriorates from bad to worse and the country faces the worst cholera outbreak in history, it is time for the UK to rethink its foreign policy approach with Saudi Arabia. Failure to do so runs counter to the UK’s interests and could potentially compromise its long-term security and commercial gains, as well as its ability to influence the peace process within the Middle East.
The UK is able to play an important role as mediator by pushing for peace in the region and this requires a rethink of UK engagement with Saudi Arabia.
