Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, has called on Ireland to support an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia due to its war crimes in Yemen and targeting of civilians.

Deputy Crowe was speaking after raising the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen with the Minister for Foreign in the Dáil.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Like many others I have been utterly shocked at the images of the humanitarian crisis and suffering in Yemen.

“Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict and 14 million need food assistance. The UN World Food Programme warned that the country faces a full-blown famine in around six months unless things rapidly change.

“Aid organisations say that the blockade of Hodeidah port by the Saudi-led coalition for the past three years has been the main contributing factor to the famine. This port handles 90% of Yemen’s imports and it is closed by the Saudi military coalition.

“The humanitarian crisis falls completely at the feet of the Saudi regime. We have seen how they have used their military might to bomb civilian infrastructure, homes and even school buses. Data collected by Al Jazeera and the Yemen Data Project has found that more than 18,000 air raids have been carried out in Yemen since 2015 by the Saudi and UAE led military coalition, and almost one-third of all bombing missions struck non-military sites.

“Yet Britain and the US alone have sold more than $12 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia since it entered the war in 2015. There are growing calls to enforce an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, due to the war crimes committed by its forces and its brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.

“I am calling for the Minister to support these calls and to support placing an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia.”

ENDS