Dutch Parliament Votes to Ban Weapon Exports to KSA

Local Editor

The Dutch parliament passed a bill on Tuesday calling for the government of the Netherlands to halt weapon exports to Saudi Arabia, citing ongoing violations of humanitarian law in Yemen.

The Dutch vote effectively seeks to implement a decision taken in February by the European Parliament, which called on countries in the European Union to impose an arms embargo against Riyadh.

It sees the Netherlands become the first EU country to put in practice a motion by the European Parliament in February urging a bloc-wide Saudi arms embargo.

So far, around 6,000 people have been killed since Saudi-led troops entered the conflict in Yemen last March, almost half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.

The Dutch bill cited a UN report from January 22 by the Panel of Experts on Yemen and ongoing executions in Saudi Arabia as reasons for the ban.

It asked the government to strictly implement the weapons embargo and not to license dual-use exports that could be used to violate human rights.

Meanwhile, Britain and France are the main European suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia. According to updated Campaign Against Arms Trade figures, the UK has now sold more than £6.7 billion worth of weapons to the Saudi government under David Cameron - £2.8 billion in deals since the bombing in Yemen began.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team