RNA - According to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the US-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with over 22.5 million people or two-thirds of the population in desperate need of aid, food and protection. Saudi Arabia has been bombing the country since 2015, and in November Saudi Arabia and its regional partners in crime strengthened pre-existing blockades on Yemeni ports, airports and borders crossings, restricting food, aid and vital supplies from entering the country – that of course with the much-needed green light from the United States, the biggest winner of this humanitarian crisis.
The US-backed, Saudi-led coalition members have claimed these restrictions have since been lifted, but UN humanitarian workers, who recently visited the main port of Hodeida, describe the port as a ‘wasteland’. They forced the UN Security Council to warn last month that conditions in Yemen were further deteriorating as a result of ongoing bombing and blockades.
After four years of bloodshed, it is time for the United Nations and international human rights groups to call on the United States and NATO allies to pressure Prince Mohammed to protect the civilian population in Yemen and end the conflict. A statement from Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, says, “Western leaders should put Yemen at the center of their discussions. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, France and the UK must do their utmost to demand that Saudi Arabia respect its international obligations.
The world community should also call for the end of bombing of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law, and the unconditional and permanent lifting of restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid and goods to Yemen.
Tragic enough, France and the UK, like the United States, are major sellers of arms to Saudi Arabia, and various rights groups have accused them of doing little to stop the flow of lethal weapons to the Saudi military campaign. These governments cannot sell deadly weapons to Saudi Arabia and at the same time announce aid packages for Yemen. Simply put, such gestures are a bitter joke.
It doesn’t take a strategic mind to realize that the United Nations Security Council has what it takes to exert pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the war and promote international peace and security for Yemen. It is not a question of whether there is a link between UN obligations and peace. Because, this link is already widely ignored.
It is even evident in the United Nations’ Charter. The drafters of this Charter not only envisaged a world free from war – but also one in which social and economic progress improved the lives of all people. Later, in 2015, this link became one of the core components of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. And, it has been an element of almost all international resolutions on both peace and development since then. The question, however, remains: how can the world body better use it, to tackle today’s challenges in Yemen? And, in answering this, to focus on one area in particular:
Ending the conflict. It is simple. The UN cannot achieve any of its 2018 development goals in Yemen if US-manufactured Saudi bombs are falling from the sky. The poorest country in the Arab world cannot achieve social or economic progress if its people are fleeing their homes in horror. And, development cannot take root on the Yemeni battleground.
We have seen this, in practice. Yemen’s development gains were destroyed by the outbreak and recurrence of the US-backed, Saudi-led conflict in 2015 for all the wrong reasons. Which is why a stronger focus on ending the conflict is key to UN efforts for ending the worst humanitarian crisis.
And, finally, the world body needs to build bridges between the warring factions for peace and security, and development to prevail. But, these bridges will be unbalanced, unless they extend to the third pillar of human rights and human dignity, which are being violated almost daily by Saudi Arabia and company.
The UN cannot address the link between peace and sustainable development without acknowledging that it is facing major challenges from Saudi Arabia and the United States. They are the reason why Yemeni institutions are crumbling to conflict and people’s prayers and calls for peace remain unanswered. Riyadh and its main supporter, Washington, have waged an illegal war and opened up new battlegrounds. In the prevailing circumstances, no country, land, or group is immune in the Middle East, much less in Yemen.
Source: Fars News Agancy
847/940