Dear friend,

We hope that you’re all well and keeping safe. Like many campaign groups, a lot of CAAT’s work will be evolving over the coming months as we adapt to the current crisis. Staff are working remotely, local group meetings and activities are moving online, and we’re looking at how Covid-19 interlinks with CAAT’s areas of work.

Some parts of the arms trade are on hold too. Biennial UK arms fair Farnborough International 2020 – where weapons are promoted to military buyers from around the world - has already been cancelled due to the pandemic. But in other areas it's important we maintain our scrutiny:

Yemen
As yet there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 within Yemen, but five long years of war have left its healthcare system devastatingly ill prepared to cope with an outbreak.

Increase in state powers and policing
From ramped up surveillance of citizens in China and Singapore, and increased police powers in the UK, to accusations of a racist, politicised response in Sri Lanka, governments globally are responding with measures that some fear could outlast the pandemic or further harm marginalised groups.

Borders
The first case of Covid-19 has been diagnosed at Yarl’s Wood, the immigration detention Centre in Bedford where racism and verbal, physical and sexual abuse have been rife. The Centre is run by Serco Group, the world 73rd largest arms company, who won £92m in Ministry of Defence contracts in 2018.

Arms to ventilators?
Rolls Royce, which produces military aircraft engines, and aerospace companies like Airbus which profits from the sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, have been called on by the UK government to help produce ventillators - showing change can come when the political will is there. The case for moving our engineering skills from industries that take lives to ones that save them has never been stronger.

Rethinking ‘security’
We can also see more than ever that our security is not advanced by wars, or by spending billions on nuclear weapons systems and aircraft carriers, but by building fairer societies that support the most vulnerable, and by investing in our public services.

Let’s work together to ensure that out of this crisis we build a safer world, where real human needs are prioritised.

In solidarity
Caroline
CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMS TRADE
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