CALL TO ACTION: Congress Must Take Action Now To Prevent a Disaster in Hudaydah

From The Yemen Peace Project

We urge you to contact your senators and representatives and tell them the time is now to introduce legislation curtailing assistance to the Saudi- and United Arab Emirates-led coalition’s military campaign in Yemen, the one message that may successfully deter the UAE and Saudi Arabia from leading a catastrophic attack on Hudaydah city and port.

Yesterday the UAE gave the UN and foreign NGOs three days to leave Hudaydah before the Emirates and their allies launch an all-out attack on the city. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an attack could cost as many as 250,000 people “everything – even their lives,” and humanitarian organizations have warned that damage to the port, which accounts for the vast majority of the country’s food and fuel imports, could tip Yemen into a long-warned-of famine. Moreover, an attack would sink the negotiations currently being brokered by the new, US-supported UN Special Envoy to Yemen. Though the US government has rhetorically opposed an offensive, the administration appears to be washing its hands of the UAE’s actions and will do nothing to intervene.

Congress can still take action to discourage US allies from going forward with their assault. This offensive directly undermines stated US government policy of preventing an attack on Hudaydah, supporting peace negotiations, and working to alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. If the administration is too weak or too compromised to uphold its own Yemen policy, then Congress must step in to avert the immediate deaths of tens of thousands and the precipitation of a man-made famine. To pressure them into taking this stand, you can:

  1. Click the “start writing” button to automatically send an email to your senators and representatives.

  2. To make sure that you’re heard, call the congressional switchboard at (202)-224-3121. Ask to be connected to your senator or representative, and say:

My name is ____________ and I live in ___________. I’m appalled that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, using US weapons, fuel, and targeting assistance, are about to conduct an assault on the Yemeni city of Hudaydah and cause a full-scale famine. I urge you to speak out publicly against the offensive and warn our allies that Congress will introduce legislation to end US assistance for their campaign should they move ahead with an attack.

Hundreds of thousands could lose everything if we don’t take action right now.

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