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REP LIEU URGES SAUDI AND EMIRATI OFFICIALS TO LIFT BLOCKADE IN YEMEN

December 21, 2017

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D – Los Angeles County) led a letter co-signed by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) to Saudi Ambassador to the United States Khaled bin Salman and Emirati Ambassador to the United States Youset al Otaiba urging their governments to end their coalition's Yemen blockade and reopen Yemen's seaports, airports and land crossings.

In the letter, the Members write:

Unless a humanitarian plan of action is implemented immediately – including ending restrictions on vessels carrying fuel and commercial goods that are essential to the humanitarian response – millions of Yemeni civilians could die from famine.

Beyond immediately lifting the blockade, we request that your governments take several specific steps that would help to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Yemen:

  • Facilitate without delay the delivery and installation of the four cranes for Hudaydah port that the U.S. Government financed last year;
  • Eliminate restrictions and delays on all vessels bound for Hudaydah and other Yemeni ports that have been cleared by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, including commercial vessels;
  • Allow both humanitarian and most commercial flights to Sana'a (with the exception of Iranian air carriers and those that have a track record of facilitating the movement of Iranian personnel and their proxies) to resume unobstructed;
  • Agree to the pre-positioning of a World Food Program vessel off Aden, to facilitate more rapid humanitarian assistance;

READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER HERE

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