Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 June 2018
57. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made to address the crisis in Yemen which is considered to be one of the world's worst humanitarian crises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27997/18]
View answerAs I have previously stated, in this House and elsewhere, I am extremely concerned about the current situation in Yemen, which is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Three years of war have had devastating consequences for civilians, with allegations of violations of human rights, international humanitarian law, and significant loss of life. Three quarters of the population are estimated to require some form of humanitarian assistance. I, and officials in my Department, have been monitoring the state of affairs in Yemen with growing anxiety, particularly in recent days as the military operations around the port and city of Hodeidah have escalated. According to the United Nations, a majority of humanitarian supplies and the vast majority of commercial supplies entered Yemen through Hodeidah and the nearby port of Saleef. Any interruption of this flow would lead to further suffering for civilians in Yemen. Humanitarian access is a critical issue, and I have consistently called on all parties to the conflict to ensure that the people of Yemen receive the assistance they urgently need. Commercial access is equally important, since a population of over 20 million people cannot survive on aid alone. Officials from my Department consistently relay my strong concerns on humanitarian access to the Saudi and UAE Embassies in Dublin, including most recently this month, when they specifically raised the importance of ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, and also a consistent flow of essential goods, even as military operations are ongoing in Hodeidah.
Ireland has provided €15.5 million in bilateral humanitarian assistance to Yemen since the conflict began in 2015. Of this, €4 million was contributed in March this year alone. Ireland also provides global funding to a number of organisations which are particularly active in Yemen including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
I believe that only way to bring about a long-term sustainable improvement in the situation for the Yemeni people is through a negotiated end to this conflict. Ireland fully supports the work of Martin Griffiths, the new Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Yemen, and his team, in particular his efforts to engage all parties to the conflict to come back to the negotiating table. I hope that peace negotiations can be re-launched soon. On Monday, the UN Special Envoy, who is working intensively in the region, spoke with the Foreign Affairs Council via video link, to brief us on his efforts. My EU colleagues and I are committed to supporting his work, we were happy to hear from him to discuss how best we can do that.
Ireland has also worked in the UN system to raise our grave concerns about human rights in Yemen. At the Human Rights Council in September 2017, Ireland was part of a small core group of countries that drove forward the adoption by consensus of a Resolution on Yemen. The resolution established a group of international experts to examine the facts in relation to violations of human rights and humanitarian law on the ground.
I would like to assure the Deputy that Ireland will continue to take every appropriate opportunity to urge stronger international action, and will press for a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Yemen, as well as respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, and improved humanitarian access.
