“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends”

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen are British-made —Reports

“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends. The Yemenis are being pulverized by the Saudis while we try to get aid in through ports which are being blockaded and while British ordnance is being dropped there,”  Andrew Mitchell, the former UK Conservative (Tory) Party whip and ex-Secretary of State for International Development, told The Telegraph.

UK Government’s support for Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen has destroyed more than a decade’s worth of British aid spending in the country, senior politicians have warned.

More than 5,800 people have been killed in Yemen, about half of them civilians, at least 27,000 others wounded since March this year, according to the U.N.

• Britain ‘fueling war in Yemen’ through arms sales, says Oxfam

Saudi Airstrikes on Schools and Hospitals

“An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a relief warehouse run by Oxfam, while the Save the Children has had two of its bases destroyed. Both charities’ aid efforts in Yemen are funded in part by DFID. Clinics operated by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have also been destroyed,” said a report.

In a recent report, Amnesty International has cited five air strikes on schools in Yemen between August and October this year, which killed five civilians and wounded at least 14 others, including four children.

Saudi-led air strikes in Hajjah and Qabatiya provinces killed at least 19 civilians in bombings of homes and a market on Sunday, villagers said.

The collapse of Yemen’s health system

The breakdown of Yemen’s health system has left more than 14 million people without the basics like antibiotics and vaccines, and risk dying from preventable diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, said the UN. Additionally,

• 21.2 million, or 82% of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance.
• 14.4 million are food insecure (including 7.6 million severely food insecure).
• 3 million people now require treatment or preventive services for malnutrition.
• 2 million are currently acutely malnourished, including 1.3 million children – 320,000 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes are British-made Tornadoes and Eurofighters, say reports.

“There is a clear risk that the [UK] Government is complicit in indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas,” said Tim Cross, a retired British Major General.

Related Links

• Saudi state terrorism leaves 21.2 million Yemenis—82% of population—in need of humanitarian assistance

TY MELOR Forces Preemptive Mass Evacuations in Albay, Philippines

MELOR continues to cause havoc across central Philippines

The entire province of Albay (pop:1.2 million) was placed under a “state of imminent disaster” on Monday as Typhoon MELOR [locally known as “NONA] threatened the archipelago country.

About 725,000 people (161,000+ families) in the central Philippines fled to safer areas, as MELOR threatened to dump up to 300mm of rain, cause large storm surges of up to 4 meters, unleash flash floods and landslides.

State weather bureau PAGASA said: “Estimated rainfall amount is from heavy to at times intense within the 300 km diameter of the typhoon.”

Public storm warning signals were issued for dozens of areas across central Philippines.

The typhoon was forecast to cross Burias Island Late Monday, and pass over Mindoro provinces on Tuesday, PAGASA said.

MELOR is expected to exit landmass by late Tuesday and leave the Philippine area of responsibility by Friday.

Schools were ordered shut across 11 provinces, three municipalities and five cities, said the national disaster management council (NDRRMC).

The typhoon knocked out power in at lest three large areas: Eastern samar, Northen Samar and Sorsogon, said NDRRMC.

Recent Deadly Typhoons in the Philippines

• Typhoon KOPPU slammed northern Philippines in October killing at least 54 people and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
• Typhoon HAGUPIT [locally known as “Ruby,”] which was the second most intense tropical cyclone in 2014, triggered severe floods and landslides causing substantial damage to the central regions and killing 53 people.
• In 2013, Super Typhoon HAIYAN [“Yolanda,”] the strongest storm recorded at landfall, wiped out entire communities and left up to 8,000 people dead or missing.