British ex-Foreign Minister Miliband: "Yemen is not a tragedy, but a crime"

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The UN describes Yemen as the biggest humanitarian disaster of our time. They were there in September. What is the situation on the ground?

David Miliband: No chance. People are starving. Food would be enough, but these are not allowed into the country. Fuel is so expensive that hardly anything can be transported. Everywhere cars and buses are on the roadside, because they have no gasoline. And more tragically, children are waiting to be treated for malnutrition. Yemen is sometimes called a tragedy, but it's actually a crime - or a series of crimes.

SPIEGEL ONLINE : Who is responsible for these crimes?

Miliband: The UN has documented war crimes on all sides. Both by the Houthi rebels and by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The more far-reaching crime, however, is that the country has been left to collapse. Not only economically, but also politically and socially.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Next week in Sweden will be discussed how the conflict can be ended. However, the people of Yemen need immediate help. What measures would improve the situation?

Miliband: The biggest obstacle to humanitarian aid is the fighting. The most effective measure is therefore a ceasefire. There are four other things that would improve immediately:

• The flow of goods over the port of Hodeidah is very slow. In the past two weeks, the number of landing ships has halved. That needs to change.
• The airport of Sanaa must be opened again for commercial air traffic.
• Civil servants must be paid again. The fact that they get no salaries, the economy also harms.
• The parties to the conflict must facilitate the transfer of goods. At present, food transports through numerous checkpoints, there are many bureaucratic hurdles and helpers are severely restricted in their freedom of movement.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What role can Germany play in this?

Miliband: Germany can give aid, what it does. It can support the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in the peace talks. But above all, Germany has already done something: it has stopped its arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Which is more of a symbolic act, because main arms supplier are others.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The delivery stop is initially limited to two months.

Miliband: Yes, but it's a start. Nobody thinks that is the decisive intervention. But it has a political dimension. And the UN Security Council's place in the next two years will give Germany's political and diplomatic efforts a bigger stage.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: To what extent?

Miliband: Germany can become a strong voice in the Council. First, it is the most powerful of the ten countries chosen. Thus, it automatically has a leadership role. Berlin is also a big supporter of the UN and its organizations and a key player in dealing with the US, China and Russia. Very important is the close cooperation with European countries. All of this opens up the possibility of not just talking about things, but actually doing something.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Despite the dramatic situation, Yemen has received little international attention. Germany's delivery stop is also a reaction to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and not to the situation in Yemen. Why is the interest so low?

Miliband: That there was so little reporting is because it's a very complex conflict. And after Syria and a number of other challenges there was probably something like a fatigue effect. The Khashoggi affair has brought Saudi Arabia's actions into a new light. In Khashoggi and in Yemen, it becomes apparent that there are states that seem to get away with impunity. In the first case it is about a life, in the second case about millions of lives. The important thing is to make the connection between the two - and that is Saudi Arabia. This is how Khashoggi has changed the debate about Yemen.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: US President Donald Trump, one of Saudi Arabia's biggest supporters in the conflict, has not changed his position yet.

Miliband: But the interest in the conflict has grown and the US Congress has become much more active. That's a good development. Small steps can now be taken during the talks in Sweden as a basis for the political process.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Does not it make you tired that there are only small steps?

Miliband: No, because our work also changes something. Last year we were able to help around 27 million people worldwide. Sometimes it was about survival, sometimes we could change lives. I think we can do much more.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Angela Merkel has recently, also in view of the refugee crisis in 2015, It was said that one of the biggest mistakes in refugee policy was that one had long neglected to look after the countries of origin.

Miliband: Maybe she heard my speeches. Seriously, I share this observation. As early as 2010-2012, we saw that pressure was rising in Lebanon, Jordan or even Turkey ( where the Syrians had fled, note d . However, there was little support for these countries. Many of the refugees who came to Europe did so because they saw no hope for themselves. The countries hosting most of the refugees are often not rich countries. We need to rethink the relationship between the global community and the host countries. If all countries fulfilled their responsibility in the same way as Germany, we would have a better situation worldwide.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What can other countries learn from Germany?

Miliband: That asylum procedures can become faster, how to integrate refugees into the education system and the world of work and, above all, that these people can also be treated humanely.