- Sec of State for International Trade admits to sale of equipment to Saudi for use in Yemen, despite Court ban
- UK has licensed at least £5.3 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since war in Yemen began in March 2015
- Saudi regime was in London last week for world’s biggest arms fair, at invitation of the UK Government
The Secretary of State for International Trade has written to MPs on the House of Commons’ Committees on Arms Export Controls to confirm that the Government approved two licences for military equipment for use in Yemen. The full letter is here.
In June 2019, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government acted unlawfully when it licensed the sale of UK-made arms to Saudi forces for use in Yemen without making an assessment as to whether or not past incidents amounted to breaches of International Humanitarian Law. The Government was ordered not to approve any new licences and to retake the decisions on extant licences in a lawful manner.
Since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015, the UK has licensed £5.3 billion worth of arms to the Saudi regime, including:
- £2.7 billion worth of ML10 licences (Aircraft, helicopters, drones)
- £2.5 billion worth of ML4 licences (Grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures)
In reality the figures are likely to be a great deal higher, with most bombs and missiles being licensed via the opaque and secretive Open Licence system.
The Saudi regime was among attendees at the DSEI arms fair in London last week, one of the biggest arms fairs in the world.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:
We are always being told how rigorous and robust UK arms export controls supposedly are, but this shows that nothing could be further from the truth. If the Government cannot be trusted to follow its own rules, or an order from the Court of Appeal, then it must immediately end all arms exports to the Saudi regime and cease all support for this devastating war.
The reality is that, no matter how appalling the crisis in Yemen has become, the Government has always been far more concerned with arms company profits than it has with the rights and lives of Yemeni people. This disregard was on full show last week when the Saudi regime was in London buying weapons at the DSEI arms fair.
ENDS
For further information please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.
