The Red Sea crisis has consequences for us all

The Philippines, like Britain, is an open economy that depends on global free trade and freedom of navigation. The Red Sea is a critical maritime corridor linking Asia, Africa, and Europe. Around 12 percent of global trade—and 40 percent of trade between Asia and Europe—travels through the Red Sea maritime corridor, making it a crucial artery for global commerce. For this reason, what happens in the Red Sea has consequences for all of us.

In recent months, Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked foreign-owned commercial vessels operating in the Red Sea, inflicting economic damage and risking innocent lives. Since mid-November, there have been over 40 such attacks, including against British and other naval vessels. The attacks have forced many of the world’s largest shipping firms to reroute their vessels, at great commercial and environmental cost. They have had great human cost, too—as we well know in the Philippines, with 17 seafarers held hostage by the Houthis since November. Red Sea maritime terrorism is also driving up food prices just as the world economy—and particularly developing countries—is struggling to recover from other shocks.

The United Kingdom and like-minded partners have responded, diplomatically and with concerted action. We helped establish “Operation Prosperity Guardian”—an international naval force to deter Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. But the Houthis and their backers continued to defy the international community, putting international security and prosperity at risk. On Jan. 10, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding the Houthis cease their unjustified attacks. That, too, was ignored.

Against this backdrop, the United States and UK, with support from the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and Bahrain, have taken carefully focused military action in striking Houthi targets in Yemen to degrade their destructive capabilities and thus protect global shipping and seafarers. These strikes were legal, limited, necessary, and proportionate, against specific targets. Every mission carried out by Royal Air Force aircraft was assessed and analyzed carefully and there are no indications of any civilian casualties.

These are not decisions any government takes lightly. Our ministers, officials, and military chiefs weigh such matters very carefully. But we and our partners are clear that the threats involved need a credible, robust, and targeted response, a necessary part of the wider effort to protect the trade arteries on which we all depend.

Laure Beaufils,

British ambassador to the Philippines