The death toll from a Saudi airstrike on a detention centre in Saada, Yemen, last Friday has risen to 82. Dozens more were injured. Among the dead were African migrants who were being detained after attempting to cross the border to look for work in Saudi Arabia.
The same day, more airstrikes by Saudi-led forces severed internet service across the entire country, cutting Yemen off for four days.
This is only the latest attack in Saudi Arabia’s barbaric war on Yemen. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since 2015, including more than 10,000 children.
Here at home, our government is completely silent on Saudi Arabia’s war crimes, as they wish to continue doing business with the regime. In November, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar led an Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – Saudi’s partners in Yemen.
Varadkar met with industry and government heads in both countries and stressed the importance of “strengthening […] opportunities and growing market share for Irish companies”.
He had nothing to say about the actions of the murderous regime – presumably his silence on the killing of innocent people is simply “the cost of doing business”.
People Before Profit condemn the brutal actions of Saudi Arabia and their coalition partners in Yemen. We call for an end of all foreign intervention in the war.
A global day of action against the war in Yemen will take place on March 26th. Over the coming weeks and months, People Before Profit will be working with the Irish Anti War Movement and with other anti-war activists to build a demonstration against the war in Dublin. Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to help build this demonstration.