Saudi-UK Trade Relations Continue to Cause Political Repression — Is Trade More Important Than Human Life

Marcus Salles
Jul 26, 2017 · 3 min read

United we stand, divided we fall. The quote very well defines the strength in unity. We cannot win battles alone, we cannot conquer alone, just as we cannot cause destructions alone too. It is fair to have trade relations with other nations or entities who can benefit you with something in exchange of what you have. And why not, barter system has been an ages old practice. However, what is not fair is causing political repression or much worse, loss of human life, as a result of it.

Trade relations between two countries barely benefit the masses, but the classes. But it is better to not gain something by loosing what you owned. Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom has had the luxury to enjoy a similarly symbiotic relationship for more than a decade now. The Arab nation offered its oil in the exchange of weaponry offered by UK.

That is simple mathematics, right? But it is not as simple as you think. The complications appeared as soon as humanitarian issues came into light. In simple words, the trade between Saudi and UK became critically controversial ever since Yemen bombings took place. As a result, the use of traded weaponry got questioned.

Is Trade Relation More Expensive Than Human Life?

Nothing costs more than a human life, not from my perspective. Yet records state that despite protest carried out by public, media outlets, politicians, and campaign groups at large couldn’t stop the trade from continuing. Shows that the Arabs couldn’t be more authoritarian than this.

To prove this, I went ahead to research about the condition and was surprised by what was found on the Internet about the situation. One of the report I came across was issued by CAAT (Campaign Against Arms Trade) on its official website. It states that during the onset of December 2016, Britain licensed weaponry worth £3.3 billion to Saudi Arabia despite significant loss of life and protests happening around. This license issued aircrafts, arms and ammunition, and armored vehicles collectively worth thousands of millions, but still less than human life.

Another report published by The Telegraph and The Guardian reveal the findings of British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. Fallon discovered that UK-made cluster munitions was responsible for the uncalculated loss of life recorded in Yemen bombing caused by Saudi-led coalition.

The worst of all, the horror hasn’t come to an end yet even after 2 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 2 days with claiming over 10,000+ Yemeni civilians’ lives (as per 2015 records). The question is, how blinded could a nation become that it agrees to walk upon a pile of dead bodies of innocent civilians to gain what — power, trade relationships — really?

With great power, comes great responsibility — sadly, Saudi Arabia is completely oblivious of the fact?

Written by

Activist, Syndicated Columnist, Political analyst. Love Caetano Veloso & Roberto Carlos. Conservative Member of Christian Society. Praise the Lord

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