Jeremy
Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party,
commenting on the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, said:
“The Prime Minister
should put human rights and international law at the centre of her talks with
Saudi Arabia’s government this week.
“Numerous human
rights organisations, including the UNHRC and Amnesty International, have
documented the dictatorial Saudi monarchy’s shocking human rights record.
“The Saudi-led
coalition bombing in Yemen, backed by the British government, has left
thousands dead, 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and three
million refugees uprooted from their homes.
“Yemen urgently
needs a ceasefire, a political settlement, and food aid, not more bombing.
British-made weapons are being used in a war which has caused a humanitarian
catastrophe.
“Britain must halt
arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately, throw its weight behind a ceasefire
resolution at the United Nations and back a full and genuinely independent
investigation of the evidence of war crimes in Yemen.
“As it stands, the
British-Saudi relationship is damaging to the people of Saudi Arabia, Britain
and the wider Middle East, and helping to export insecurity to the rest of the
world.
“Unless the Prime
Minister challenges the Saudi regime over its abuses this week, it will be
clear she is ready to sacrifice human rights and security on the altar of the
arms trade.”
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