Tell the Senate: Yemen Can’t Wait

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The Saudi government is claiming it has lifted its inhumane, American-backed blockade of Yemen in response to international pressure. But the truth is, the Yemen blockade is far from over. 130 children under the age of five are dying of famine and disease every day.

Email your senators to make sure they know the truth: The United States is still complicit in the impending starvation of millions. Saudi Arabia must lift the blockade.

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Feel free to customize your letter in your own words.

Dear Senator,

As your constituent, I write to urge you to shine a light on the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and demand that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) immediately lift its blockade of Yemen, which has prevented food, medicine, and fuel from entering the country.
 
Since 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE — with U.S. military backing — has intervened in Yemen’s civil war, including imposing a blockade on Yemen which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded. Tens of thousands of innocent people have already died from the fighting, from starvation, and from preventable diseases. The crisis has the potential to create a “famine of biblical proportions,” in the words of Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Because Yemen imports 90 percent of its food, the blockade has put seven million people on the brink of starvation. As of this writing, 130 children under the age of five are dying of famine and disease every day.

While Saudi Arabia has allowed a trickle of humanitarian aid into the country following its intensification of the blockade in early November, only a complete lifting of the embargo will allow Yemenis relief from suffering.
 
The humanitarian crisis is also creating a security vacuum in Yemen that the State Department has concluded only helps to empower al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  In addition, this crisis has created an opportunity for Iran to expand its influence in Yemen – the opposite of the Saudi-backed coalition’s intentions.

I am deeply concerned not only by this situation, but by America’s complicity. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are three of the world’s wealthiest countries; Yemen is one of the world’s poorest. There is no possible justification for the United States to help starve an entire population. Again, I urge you to raise awareness of this crisis with the American public about the continuing humanitarian crisis and to demand that Saudi Arabia and the UAE lift their inhumane blockade.

Sincerely,

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