Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which of the recommendations made by the APPG for Yemen in its report, Conflict in Yemen, the forgotten crisis, published in October 2015 have been adopted by his Department.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We welcomed the report and share the APPG’s concern about the serious humanitarian crisis in Yemen. A political solution is the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the conflict. The UK continues to strongly support the work of UN Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and his tireless efforts in working with all parties to bring about peace in Yemen. The UK has continued to engage including at senior levels in support of the UN Special Envoy’s work. Along with my US, Saudi Arabian and Emirati counterparts, we released a Communiqué calling for an immediate return to the Cessation of Hostilities after meetings held on 21 September at the United Nations General Assembly.

We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by actors in the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military Coalition. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that lessons will be acted upon. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL.