World War 3: Saudi power plays in Middle East could kill MILLIONS human rights groups warn

Saudi Arabia imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports in early November, after Houthi-Saleh rebels in the war-torn nation attempted a missile attack on Saudi capital city, Riyadh, as part of an ongoing civil war in which the Saudis have backed their enemies.

Officials in Saudi Arabia said they installed the blockade to prevent arms trafficking to the Iran-backed rebels after the attempted attack. 

However, the move risked causing a “full-blown famine” which could kill millions of Yemenis, human rights groups warned.

Groups including Save The Children, Human Appeal and the International Rescue Committee warned about the impending crisis if the blockade continued in a joint statement.

While the UN Emergency Relief Fund took the almost unprecedented step of putting out an additional strongly-worded statement, stating the blockade “is hurting millions of Yemenis who require urgent humanitarian assistance to stave off starvation and disease”.

The UN’s World Food Programme reports the first planes have landed in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, after the two-week blockade was lifted on Friday.

However, humanitarian workers have been at a loss to deal with the crisis in the meantime as there was no way to bring supplies in to the embattled country.

Kristine Beckerle, a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, spoke to Express.co.uk about the crisis.

She revealed how wheat, fuel, medicine and aid workers had been blocked from entering the country.

Had the blockade continued, she said, it would estimated that up to 150,000 children would die, and cholera could return to the Middle East “with a vengeance”.

She said: “Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East before the war. 

“And as the war has continued, the humanitarian situation has got worse. 

“Often, the way we talk about humanitarian crises is as though they are natural results of war and conflict, and to an extent that’s true. 

“But in Yemen it isn’t just that. You don’t have nearly one million people infected with cholera just because there’s a war; you have it because of the behaviour of the parties that are fighting that war.”

Ms Beckerle said it was not just the Saudis preventing humanitarian workers from helping Yemeni civilians caught up in the civil war.

Houth-Saleh rebel forces are also “bad actors” in the region and have prevented humanitarian access to Yemen.

She added: “In a country that was 80-90 per cent imports before the war, that’s going to have a huge impact on the humanitarian situation.”

Ms Beckerle said: “The humanitarian situation is more than just very very sad. It’s also a direct consequence of the policies.

“The reason why this is so important is because it could be changed, and people could do something about it. 

“Instead what you see is governments saying they’re worried about the humanitarian situation, but you know, the Saudis have a right to defend themselves. 

“They’re right, the Saudis do have they right to defend themselves, what they don’t have the right to do is make others suffer for it, which this latest blockade absolutely does.”

The British Government is said to be deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen and keen to find a solution.

Alistair Burt, the Middle East minister, told the House of Commons on November 20: “Her Majesty’s Government remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Yemen and the impact recent restrictions are having on what was already the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and largest ever cholera outbreak.

“We recognise the risk of a severe deterioration of the humanitarian situation, if restrictions are not quickly removed and call on all parties to ensure immediate access for commercial and humanitarian supplies through all Yemen’s land, air and sea ports.”

In the speech, Mr Burt said imposing a blockade to prevent arms trafficking to the Houthi-Saleh rebels was understandable, but the Government was nonetheless concerned about the humanitarian impacts.

The escalating humanitarian situation comes amid World War 3 fears as Saudi Arabia has provoked its neighbouring countries repeatedly in recent months.

Most recently, the new ruling Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, branded Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “the new Hitler” and demanded he contain his expansion of influence across the continent.

The state is also rumoured to have agreed to pay $7billion for munition armaments from US defence contractors in a deal with President Donald Trump.

And it has consistently provoked Iran as the two countries battle it out to be the region’s centre of power.