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February 28th, 2019

NDP Calls on Liberals to Follow Yemen Humanitarian Assistance With a Halt in Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia

OTTAWA – While New Democrats are pleased to learn that the federal government has finally responded to the United Nations’ call for additional funding for humanitarian assistance in Yemen, they urge the Liberals to follow this funding with an immediate end to the arms trade with Saudi Arabia.

“As Canada joins the international community to provide desperately needed assistance in Yemen, it continues to export arms to Saudi Arabia, the chief instigator of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” says Linda Duncan, the NDP International Development Critic.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 80 percent of Yemenis – 24 million people – require some form of humanitarian assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need.

“It has been four months since the Prime Minister announced that his government was reviewing the existing arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia. When can we expect a decision?” added Hélène Laverdière, the NDP Foreign Affairs Critic.

Despite numerous calls from the NDP, the Liberal government has refused to take the appropriate steps to ensure that Canadian-made arms are not being used to create the suffering that our aid is meant to relieve. We urge Trudeau’s Liberal government to be resolute in their support for the Yemeni people and to cease all arms exports to Saudi Arabia, as Germany and other allies have done.