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European Union lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution that calls on the bloc to slap an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, which is leading a brutal military campaign against Yemen.

The non-binding resolution, which was adopted in a nearly unanimous 539-13 vote on Thursday, condemned attacks against Yemeni civilians as “war crimes,” and slammed EU members for authorizing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in breach of EU laws on arms export control.

The parliament “condemns in the strongest terms the ongoing violence in Yemen and all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which constitute war crimes,” the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said in their statement.

Referring to a similar resolution from February last year, the lawmakers called on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to launch an initiative to impose an EU arms embargo against the Riyadh regime “given the serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.”

Baking on September, the European Parliament had adopted a resolution urging EU Member States to improve the implementation of the EU Common Position on Arms Export. The resolution calls for more transparency, a supervisory body and a sanctions mechanism for those Member States not following minimum requirements. It re-iterates the urgent need to impose an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights reported. The resolution, titled “Resolution on arms export: implementation of Common Position 2008/944/CFSP”, was adopted on Sptember by 386 votes to 107, overcoming opposition from the conservatives.

The MEPs also expressed “grave concern at the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen,” referring to civilian deaths resulting from the years-long Saudi war and an outbreak of deadly diseases such as cholera and diphtheria.

In their statement, the European lawmakers blasted the blockade and called for its “immediate” removal.

“The aerial and naval blockade imposed on Yemen by the coalition forces has been one of the main causes of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe; whereas this blockade has restricted and disrupted the import and export of food, fuel and medical supplies, as well as humanitarian aid,” the statement added.

The motion was proposed by the Greens/EFA calling on the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, to launch an initiative in the Foreign Affairs Council to impose an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia.



Bodil Valero was rapporteur for the European Parliament’s report on Arms Exports, which previously called on High Representative Mogherini to launch an embargo. She comments:

"It is a scandal that EU member states continue to provide arms and expertise to Saudi Arabia in the war against Yemen. High Representative Mogherini should urgently launch an initiative to impose an EU arms embargo against Saudi Arabia. As chairwomen of the Foreign Affairs Council, we urge Mogherini to formally put the item of an embargo on the agenda of their next meeting. EU countries cannot continue to be party to the horrible suffering being caused in Yemen. "Saudi Arabia should immediately stop the sea, land and air blockade of Yemen and allow full access for humanitarian aid to all parts of Yemen."

The Saudi-led coalition which is launching attacks on Yemen and has imposed a blockade on the country is threatening peace, security and stability in Yemen, UN observers have reported.

Since the beginning of the Saudi assault on Yemen in 2015, more than 10 thousand civilians have been killed and around 40 thousand have been injured. Air strikes have on several occasions hit hospitals and other vital civilian infrastructure.

Moreover, with seven million people facing famine and 17 million—60 percent of the country—who live in food insecurity, the World Food Program said last week: “Yemen is on the brink of famine. Cholera is compounding a dramatic food crisis. Food is being used a weapon of war.”

More than 2 million children are already malnourished, and of those, nearly half-million children required medical assistance to stay alive. Yemen is staring down the “largest famine the world has seen for many decades,” said UN aid chief Mark Lowcock.

*(Bodil Valero, former rapporteur for the European Parliament’s report on Arms Exports. Image credit: Fredrik Hjerling/ Miljöpartiet de gröna/ flickr)