The Times
Protecting shipping lanes in the Red Sea Letters to the Editor
Saturday 13th January 2024
We decry the attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Houthis. In addition to their well-publicised impact on global trade, these could prove to be an own goal by affecting vital food deliveries into Yemen and by jeopardising the real progress made in Yemen’s fragile moves towards peace.
As with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, root causes cannot be ignored. There is an urgent necessity to stop the carnage in Gaza, where, as in Yemen, a man-made famine now threatens. The international community now needs to prioritise a single- minded drive to find a just and durable resolution to that conflict. The solutions to this do not lie in bombing sites in Yemen, nor in continuing the war in Gaza, but in a revitalised inclusive political process to agree and implement long-term solutions. This is the route to peace and an end to the actions of those who exploit the war for their own ends.
James Firebrace, Chairman, Yemen Safe Passage Group
Taher Qassim MBE, Chairman, British Yemeni Society
Frances Guy, former UK Ambassador to Yemen
Phil Holihead, former RN Officer and UN Counter-Piracy Diplomat
