NEW YORK: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday welcomed the decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to remove the name of the “Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen” from list of those responsible for violence against civilians, pointing out that the invitation to the UN to dispatch officials to visit the command of the coalition forces in Riyadh to see details of their preparations and precautions in this regard remains standing.
The Kingdom stressed its belief that the United Nations must exercise its role impartially, objectively and transparently and not be satisfied with unreliable sources as the basis for its reports or their data, and that the primary objective of these reports should be to seek improving the circumstances faced by children in armed conflicts.
This came in a speech by the Kingdom on Tuesday before the Security Council on the open debate on the item “children in armed conflict,” delivered by Ambassador of the Kingdom to the United Nations Abdullah Al-Mouallimi.
The ambassador said, “My delegation expresses its deep concern at the escalation of serious violations committed against children, and we condemn in the strongest terms” violations against children contained in the report of the Secretary General on the armed non-state groups such as the “youth movement,” “Boko Haram” and“Daesh,” in addition to sectarian militias such as Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias. The ambassador also noted the violations in Syria and South Sudan and against Palestinian children by Israel.
The Saudi ambassador noted the suffering of children in Syria and violations of Houthi militias including their attack against the Kingdom, causing the deaths of more than 500 civilians, the displacement of thousands of people and destruction of more than 1,700 homes and 75 government buildings, including hospitals and health facilities.
He stated that on June 6, the coalition forces returned all children recruited by the Houthi rebel militias and allies who were found carrying weapons along the border and they were handed over unconditionally to the Yemeni government organs to be reunited with their families after providing them with assistance and care in coordination and cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF. He confirmed that the coalition forces do not detain any of the children recruited in Yemen.
He pointed out that the coalition has adopted clear rules of engagement to protect civilians and that the Kingdom and the coalition forces, in February of this year, established a team to investigate all allegations of civilian casualties and the United Nations will be informed of the results of these investigations as soon as possible.
The ambassador also detailed the Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian aid efforts to Yemen and Yemeni citizens.
Riyadh hails removal of Arab coalition from UN list
Riyadh hails removal of Arab coalition from UN list
