THE situation in Yemen receives very little publicity but is as serious, if not more so than the Indonesian tsunami for which the Disasters Emergency Committee has been appealing over the last few weeks.

The website of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid paints a terrible picture. Over 17.8m people are food insecure, 8.4m are at risk of starvation and 11.3m are in acute need. Some aid is being supplied but more is needed. If you wish to donate UNICEF have launched an appeal. Their address is 1, Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London E20 1HZ.

However, this letter is not primarily a request for donations, but an appeal to readers to urge the government to put pressure on the warring parties and their sponsors to bring the war to an end. Saudi Arabia bears a large part of the blame because of civilian casualties caused by their air raids.

I feel that the United Kingdom government has a particular responsibility because of our supply of arms to the Saudis. Of course, ceasing of this trade might lead to redundancies in the factories concerned, but we as a nation have to decide which is the lesser of two evils.

I urge readers to apply pressure on Her Majesty’s Government to change its position, for example by writing to your MP.

Gordon Maidment, Wolversdene Road, Andover.