John Kerry urges GCC to provide jobs for Yemen migrants

Migrant workers from Yemen should be given help in finding jobs in the UAE and other Gulf states as part of efforts to neutralise al Qa'eda, an influential American senator says today. Writing exclusively in The National, John Kerry, the chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, says: "Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis were expelled from overseas jobs when Yemen foolishly supported Iraq's 1991 invasion of Kuwait. Convincing Gulf states to turn the page and allow Yemen's migrant workforce - rigorously screened - to return could be a vital pressure valve for Yemen's unemployed youth." Mr Kerry says there is a risk that Yemen will fail as a state and that al Qa'eda will fill the void, but such a scenario is not inevitable. He says: "To improve Yemen's prospects - and the security of its neighbours and America - we need a Yemen policy with an eye towards 2030 as well as 2010." He points out that Yemen aid efforts by the UAE and Saudi Arabia "dwarf all other donors", but he calls for even greater regional involvement because "Gulf states understand Yemen's intricate tribal politics in ways America and Europe can't hope to match".