- The DSEI arms fair opens at the Excel Centre in East London tomorrow
- 68 delegations are on the guest list, including a ‘who’s who’ of human rights abusers
- Over 100 people were arrested for taking action to stop the set-up of the arms fair
Tomorrow will see the opening of Defence & Security Equipment International 2019 (DSEI), one of the biggest arms fairs in the world. 68 international delegations have been invited to London for the event, including representatives from the Saudi Arabian regime, and all of its coalition partners that are bombing Yemen. The arms fair will run from 10-13 September.
In total, the guest list includes representatives from 8 Governments that feature on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s list of ‘human rights priority countries.’ The countries that feature on the watch list are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan.
Last week saw seven days of protests and blockades to disrupt the set-up of the event. Over 2000 people took action with over100 arrests.
DSEI would not be possible without the support of the UK Government. It is supported by the Department of International Trade and the Ministry of Defence, with the Secretary of State for International Trade and the Defence Minister both due to speak.
Organisers boast that DSEI will bring over 1600 companies, and over 35,000 people together for one the arms fair. This comes despite the catastrophic impact that these weapons could have around the world.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:
The guest list for DSEI reads like a ‘who’s who’ of despots, dictatorships and human rights abusers. They are in London for one reason only, and that is to buy as many weapons as possible. There is no way of knowing how these weapons will be used or who they will be used against.
DSEI exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of UK foreign policy. The Government may talk a lot about the importance of human rights and democracy, but it is arming and supporting some of the most abusive regimes in the world.
ENDS
For further information please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297.
