The total number of fatalities in Yemen is reported to be more than 91,000 over the past four and a half years, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition and its allies are responsible for over 8,000 of the approximately 11,700 fatalities reported in connection with direct targeting of civilians in Yemen.

Among the Yemeni population children are the group that is suffering most.

• 12.3 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance
• 55 out of 1000 children die before their 5th birthday
• One in 10 schools have been destroyed or damaged
• 2 million children are out of school
• 23% of children are engaged in child labour

(Source: Save the Children)

A CNN investigation recently found that Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardliner Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States.

The US Senate voted on 20 June to block the Trump administration from selling U.S.-made weapons to Saudi Arabia and its allies. The reasons for this vote, according to USA Today, are not only anger at the Saudi government for its alleged role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its involvement in the war in Yemen, but also what they see as Trump’s strong-arm efforts to sell weapons without seeking congressional say-so.

According to the EU’s reporting on arms exports, EU member states issued at least 607 licences worth over 15.8 billion euros to Saudi Arabia in 2016. The main European exporters of conventional arms to Saudi Arabia include the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria. Between 2013 and 2018, Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly half of the UK’s and a third of Belgium’s arms exports, Amnesty International reports.

A growing number of European countries, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have decided to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. At the end of June, The Guardian reported, British arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been ruled unlawful by the court of appeal in a critical judgment that also accused ministers of ignoring whether airstrikes that killed civilians in Yemen broke humanitarian law.