Written answers

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Foreign Conflicts

Photo of Jack ChambersJack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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151. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the measures he is taking at EU level in conjunction with his European counterparts to address the situation and famine in Yemen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44970/18]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I remain gravely concerned about the escalating crisis in Yemen and deeply troubled by reports of the threat of famine, of widespread disease, and of violations of basic human rights. After over three years of armed conflict, a stalled peace process and a severe economic decline which has accelerated the collapse of essential basic services and institutions, Yemen is in the grip of a large-scale, protracted humanitarian crisis. The UN reports that 17.8 million people are currently food insecure, including 8.4 million severely so – 24% more than in 2017. Critical public services in health, water and sanitation, and education are increasingly limited. The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, has warned that as many as 13 million civilians are at risk if the fighting continues. Ireland joins our EU partners in urging all parties to cooperate in order to achieve a political resolution, respect international humanitarian law, and ensure unrestricted humanitarian access and the free flow of commercial goods.

Ireland is doing what we can to address the devastating humanitarian situation and try and help alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people. Since 2015, Ireland has provided almost €16.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemen. This includes a contribution of €4 million made to the UN Yemen Humanitarian Fund this year, which provides assistance in the areas of education, logistics, food security, nutrition and health.

Ireland also provides humanitarian support to Yemen through our contributions to EU funds. Since the beginning of the conflict in 2015, the EU has contributed a total of €438.2 million to Yemen, which includes humanitarian, development, stabilisation and resilience support.

However, it is crucial that we also push for a resolution of the conflict which is the ultimate cause of the suffering of so many civilians. This has been one of my consistent messages to all parties to the conflict. Officers from my Department consistently convey the Government’s strong concerns to the Saudi, United Arab Emirates and Iranian Embassies in Dublin. And I myself met with the Saudi Ambassador last month and stressed the importance that Ireland puts on this issue.

Ireland is looking to use our leverage in other multilateral fora to focus on the situation in Yemen. At the human Rights Council in September 2017 Ireland was part of a core group of countries which ensured the establishment of a Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen to investigate alleged violations of human rights and contraventions of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict. In September of this year, Ireland worked to ensure the extension of the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts for another year.

EU Foreign Ministers discussed the situation at our meeting in June 2018 with the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths. All were in agreement on the need to continue our strong support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy to bring about a political solution to the conflict. Since June the talks have stalled and Mr. Griffiths is making every effort to restart the negotiations. We continue to call on all parties to work towards a ceasefire, and engage constructively with the UN, and I expect that there will be further discussion on Yemen at the Foreign Affairs Council in the coming months.

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