Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of antiquities and historic sites in Yemen.

Both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. We have raised our concerns regarding protection of cultural property with the Saudi Arabian government and have received assurances. A political solution is the best way to achieve long-term stability in Yemen, and we remain fully and actively supportive of the UN’s efforts to bring an end to the conflict.