MORE than half of Britain’s arms sales are destined for countries accused of human rights abuses, new research by campaigners suggests. 

The analysis by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) shows that in 2021, the government issued arms licences worth £267 million to Saudi Arabia, £271m to India and £306m to Turkey — nations all accused of gross human rights violations. 

In a report published on Thursday, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the US were named as the biggest buyers of British arms between 2017 and 2021, each receiving 19 per cent of exports. 

The analysis looks at figures from various sources including government data and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s database.

This shows that British arms exports have actually dropped in recent years with major conventional weapons exports currently at their lowest level since the SIPRI data began in the 1950s. 

In 2021, the British government issued single individual export licences for arms sales to foreign countries to a value of £4.1 billion — a fall of 12 per cent compared with 2020. 

SIPRI data also showed the level of arms transfers between 2017 to 2021 were 41 per cent lower compared to the period over 2012 to 2016. 

But CAAT warned that the data available does not show the full picture as sales made under secretive open licences are not included in official figures. 

“The government provides no information on actual deliveries of arms, and data on the value of export licences excludes about half of the value of British exports, which are covered by secretive open licences,” CAAT research co-ordinator Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman said. 

The campaign argued that British arms exports still lack transparency and is calling for the government to provide more information on sales, as is done by other EU countries. 

Emily Apple, of CAAT, said: “While any reduction in arms sales is obviously welcome news, it is clear that this is not the full picture and that the government is continuing to arm human rights abusers. 

“The weapons that the Britain sells to these countries are fuelling these abuses. However, the government cares more about profit than saving lives or protecting fundamental human rights.”

A Department for International Trade spokesperson said: “The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world and we remain committed to the promotion of universal human rights.
 
“We take our export control responsibilities seriously and operates one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.
 
“We consider all our export applications thoroughly against a strict risk assessment framework and keep all licences under careful and continual review as standard.”