Response to interpellation 2024/25:305 on the situation after UNRWA
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government channels support through other actors than UNRWA 1. M emphasizes that UNRWA is part of the problem due to links to terrorists and a crisis of confidence 2 3. M argues that the aid should serve the interests of the Swedish people 4 and that it is reasonable to review the cooperation since other organizations account for the majority of the aid in Gaza 2. M prioritizes that no tax money goes to terrorism 3. M believes it is time to integrate Palestinians into the countries they live in 5. M argues that the government is increasing the preparedness for humanitarian aid by 800 million SEK 6 7. M explains that the decision not to renew the core support is due to a finite state budget and a focus on civilians in acute distress 7. MP believes that the government is building on the crisis of confidence rather than countering it 8. MP argues that Sweden has supported UNRWA's mandate for refugees and asks how these are to receive education and healthcare when the support is withdrawn 8 9. MP also criticizes that the government seems to be going against previous UN resolutions 9.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! I have been asked if, before the decision to end the financial support to UNRWA, I took the initiative to conduct an analysis of healthcare and education for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Jacob Risberg has also asked me if I can, in that case, account for the results of such an analysis.
The Government has, against the background of the enormous humanitarian needs in the world, decided to significantly strengthen its preparedness to pay out additional humanitarian aid during the year in suddenly occurring, worsened, or underfunded crises. Of these funds, 800 million kronor are allocated to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to the region. In this way, the Government can, in ongoing dialogue with its partners, ensure that the Swedish support is designed in the best way to alleviate the suffering of distressed civilians and meet the enormous and acute needs on the ground, both in Gaza and on the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Sweden has previously provided extensive humanitarian support to countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon. The Swedish support there amounted in total to nearly half a billion kronor during 2024. Furthermore, Sweden continues to be one of the largest donors of flexible core funding to several key actors in the region, such as UNHCR, Unicef, and the international Red Cross movement, which among other things work to strengthen access to education and healthcare for the most vulnerable.
At the same time, Sweden continues to provide long-term support to the region through development cooperation, for example within the health and medical care sector. The Government also decided this summer on a new regional aid strategy for the Syria crisis totaling 880 million kronor for 2024-2026. The strategy aims, among other things, to improve livelihood opportunities and provide better access to basic social services. These are goals that continue to be highly relevant.
The government is continuously reviewing its partners and analyzing its methods of work in order to design Swedish aid policy in the best possible way. Looking at the overall picture, the government has now chosen to channel the greatly increased support to the region through actors other than UNRWA.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Mr. Speaker! On December 20, notice was given that the government is abolishing all financial support to UNRWA. It was one week after Sweden voted in the UN for an extension of UNRWA's mandate until June 30, 2026. One does one thing with one hand and another thing with the other hand.
UNRWA is not only the primary humanitarian organization currently providing emergency aid, food, and medicine in the war-torn Gaza, but it has a much broader mandate than that. UNRWA is the organization responsible for Palestinian refugees from the wars of 1948 and 1967 in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It is tasked with ensuring that these individuals receive healthcare, education, protection, and other types of interventions. These are needs that are often insatiable, as many of these refugees live under miserable social and economic conditions.
In total, UNRWA's mandate covers around 6 million Palestinian refugees. A quarter of these are located in Gaza. As the Swedish government now ends its support to UNRWA, I would like to ask State Secretary Benjamin Dousa if, before the decision to stop the support, he initiated an analysis of who should instead take responsibility for healthcare and education for the approximately 3 million Palestinian refugees who are located in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. I am therefore not asking about those who are located in Gaza and the West Bank, but I want to know how the Palestinian refugees who are located outside the occupied territories are to be handled. Can the State Secretary, in that case, report on the results of this analysis?
In recent weeks, the 800 million that is being spent on humanitarian efforts has appeared very often. Initially, it was said that 800 million kronor would be spent on the efforts in Gaza. In the last few days, and particularly in the response we received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs here today, people have started talking about efforts in Gaza and in the region. I would like to know how much of these 800 million is being spent on the humanitarian support to Gaza and how much is intended to go to other efforts around the region.
I would also like to know which organizations in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon receive a share of the 800 million kronor that the Minister of Justice is talking about. The organizations the Minister of Justice mentioned here, which work with humanitarian efforts in the other countries, are not responsible for the Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. It is UNRWA that is responsible for them. The humanitarian efforts that the Minister of Justice mentioned regarding, for example, Syria are absolutely necessary. What I understand is that they are not intended to go to precisely those Palestinian refugees, but they are intended for the rest of the population in Syria, who today are affected by conflicts. The same applies to Lebanon.
The question remains: Has any analysis been made of how the aid for the Palestinian refugees outside the occupied territories will reach those who need the aid? In what way does the Swedish government contribute continued support to the Palestinian refugees outside the occupied territories when it scraps the support to UNRWA?
Fredrik Saweståhl (M)
Mr. Speaker! It is always just as fun to participate in a debate after Jacob Risberg. He is 2.25 meters tall, and one must therefore devote oneself to the height of the speaker's rostrum instead of the politics. That we can actually raise and lower the rostrum is one of the lovely things about this chamber.
It is clear that the Middle East and the conflict concerning Israel and the Palestinian territories involve very many people in Sweden. Sometimes one could wish that other conflicts in the world evoked as much engagement. How many actually care about the crisis in Sudan, which is the worst ongoing crisis right now? How many care about what is happening in Congo and Rwanda right now, when everyone focuses on this area?
It is not wrong to focus on this, because it is important. It is also a conflict that has existed for a very long time. Then we must ask ourselves the question: How do we move forward? What is the long-term solution to build a Middle East that is stable, peaceful and democratic and that respects human rights? Is it to continue on the same path we have followed for 80 years, or is it to do something else?
If you do as you have always done, it will go as it always has gone. It is time for change. One of the changes that is necessary is to review the role of the agency UNRWA. I will return to that in just a moment. Let us first establish that Sweden's commitment in this region is great. As we have touched upon, the humanitarian support to help in Gaza and in the region has doubled, which is very good.
We also know that UNRWA is absolutely not the only actor when it comes to reaching out with aid in Gaza, the West Bank, and the Palestinian territories. There are many others who are already carrying this out and who can very well take over these tasks in those areas. Several of them are also UN agencies, such as the World Food Programme, UNHCR, and OCHA. There is also a long line of non-profit organizations and other organizations operating in these areas that actually already today account for a clear majority of the aid that enters Gaza. We are therefore not leaving people in the lurch just because UNRWA does not receive money from Sweden or, for that matter, from others.
There are also a number of reasons why this is reasonable. As we all know and have seen in media reports, UNRWA has been infiltrated by and had contacts with terrorists. It was individuals with links to UNRWA who participated in the massacre on October 7, which, according to media reports, is the worst pogrom against the Jewish people since World War II.
In the same way, we have seen media reports that individuals who have worked in the organization have links to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We also know that buildings and other facilities connected to UNRWA have been infiltrated by these organizations, which keep the Palestinian people in oppression and terror.
There are, therefore, good reasons to review the organization and why one wants to cooperate with it. One should instead find a path that is constructive and that leads forward and to us being able to build a better Gaza, a better West Bank and a functioning Palestinian state that lives side by side with the state of Israel in peace, security and freedom.
The Palestinian people deserve democracy, human rights and freedom, not terror, not oppression, not Hamas, not Islamic Jihad, not Hezbollah - not any of all those organizations that we constantly read about in the newspaper. Those people must go. The people deserve their freedom.
Lars Beckman (M)
Mr. Speaker! Today, a busload of Moderates from Gävleborg has arrived to listen to the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. As a Moderate, one becomes proud of the change to Swedish development aid that this government has made, where the aid is changed to take into account the interests of the Swedish people. That is why the title is precisely Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.
We have been able to see during the autumn how the left in Sweden's Riksdag has been deeply upset by the change in aid policy that is now taking place. It is, just as Fredrik Saweståhl says, troubling that certain organizations that are heavily questioned are being protected. That UNRWA is questioned is no state secret.
It is important for Swedish taxpayers that every krona we use makes a real difference. Every krona must reach the recipient. That is why it is pleasing to read the minister's various interviews in the media, where he is very clear that every krona shall make a difference and that every krona shall reach.
Swedish taxpayers' wallets are not infinitely large, now that we have a war in our vicinity - Ukraine. It is logical that Sweden supports Ukraine, and it then becomes even more important that the resources we use for the Middle East are truly used in the right way.
I have noted that the new American administration is pausing its aid for 90 days and is reviewing which aid is given to different areas. A remarkable media report that has appeared is that the American administration gave 101 million dollars for condoms in Gaza. It was probably an exaggeration and likely part of something larger, but it is valuable that the money given is being scrutinized so that it really makes a difference for real.
So continue the good work - that the left is upset here in the chamber, we can take that. It is quite logical. We are to have an aid that makes a real difference.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! When it comes to the region in question, it is important to keep several thoughts in mind at the same time.
When it comes specifically to UNRWA as an organization, it is no secret that it is undergoing a crisis of confidence. It is not just about Israel. The government has been very clear in its criticism of Israel's decision, and I have personally taken it up with Israel's ambassador to Sweden and with Israel's deputy foreign minister, whom I met when I was visiting Palestine, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
We are critical of Israel's decision, but it is not just about this specific decision. There are many other problems that organizations, both UN bodies and civil society organizations, currently have regarding helping people in distress in the region. For example, it is difficult to obtain visas, and if one does get a visa, it may only be valid for a few weeks instead of months, while families are supposed to come to the region to help some of the most needy people on the entire planet.
At the same time, UNRWA has a crisis of confidence. It is not just about Hamas's brutal terror attack against civilians in Israel, but about the fact that too little has been done for decades. Let me be very clear: This government's perhaps foremost priority is to ensure that not a single Swedish tax krona goes to terrorism, extremism, antisemitism, or other types of values that in different ways make a distinction between people.
It was therefore important for the government to partially pause the payments regarding the packages to UNRWA that were decided last year, but also to ensure that UNRWA cross-checks its staff lists against, among other things, the EU's sanction lists.
We have also demanded independent evaluations of UNRWA's activities. It cannot be that only UNRWA and the UN system conduct evaluations themselves, as is unfortunately often the case in many UN organizations. I took this up personally with UNRWA's head, Lazzarini, when I met him during the autumn of last year.
The second thought that one also must keep in mind is that it is a region where many millions of people, whether they are Palestinian refugees or internal refugees in Syria, are now having a very tough time. In many of these countries, there is a shortage of many things.
Just yesterday, I received reports about the very tough situation in Syria, where there is a shortage of practically everything. There is a shortage of food, there is a shortage of electricity, and there is a shortage of fuel. In the long run, there is also, of course, a shortage of a dignified life for the people who live there.
For the Swedish government, it is therefore a very high priority to combine short-term humanitarian support with the long-term building of institutions, schools, and access to health centers in these countries, i.e., not only in Gaza, on the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem but also in the surrounding region.
We have previously communicated a rather large package including, among other things, mobile health centers in Syria. Regarding the concrete question of what the 800 million kronor will be used for, I will return to that in the near future. For the government, it is important that the money goes to what does the most good and that the actors truly have humanitarian access to the region.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Mr. Speaker! It is a bit unnecessary that one should have to spend time here in the chamber trying to raise the level of the debate. One would rather want to spend the time debating actual politics, but I will have to try to do that at least.
I must comment on what some of the other debaters are talking about here. Among other things, it was mentioned that there are a lot of other conflicts around the world that do not receive the attention they deserve. I note that we here in the chamber last week debated, among other things, the situation in Ethiopia. We have debated the situation in Iran, and we have debated the situation in Syria. I do not think, however, that I saw Member Fredrik Saweståhl here then.
I am becoming a bit thoughtful. Do the Moderates not trust the former French Foreign Minister Colonna and the report where she has scrutinized UNRWA's potential involvement in the massacres on October 7? It has been concluded that there is no evidence that a single person has participated. There may have been people who participated, but there is no evidence that a single person has done so. Not a single person has been able to be named.
I would very much like to hear: Which person do the Moderate members mean participated in the attacks on October 7? It is stated with absolute certainty that this has occurred.
I would like to move the question back to what the interpellation is actually about, namely the situation outside Gaza and the West Bank. That is what I am requesting. I want to move the question back to what is happening with the Palestinian refugees who are in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. That is what I am requesting.
Sweden has supported the UN mandate since UNRWA was formed, which has been renewed and renewed. Sweden also voted for it in December and renewed the mandate for UNRWA until June 2026. And it is not just about Gaza and the West Bank; it is also about the Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
People are talking about a crisis of confidence for UNRWA. The question is: In what way do you counter that crisis of confidence when you also pull the rug out from under UNRWA by removing the funding? You are rather building on the crisis of confidence when you act in that way.
Israel's decision to ban UNRWA's activities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, does not affect UNRWA's work in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. I wonder therefore again: How is it that the government is scrapping all support for UNRWA, which works with Palestinian refugees even outside the Palestinian occupied territory?
Half of the Palestinian refugees are located outside the occupied territory, and it is UNRWA that we have tasked to help these Palestinians in their waiting to be allowed to return. It is a return that Sweden, moreover, has been involved in signing off on that they have a right to.
The Minister says that the government will return with how the 800 million shall be distributed. I would like to know a bit more about the timeline for this. I would also, again, like to know: Who has it been intended that should help the Palestinian refugees in the refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan when the support from UNRWA is removed?
Fredrik Saweståhl (M)
Mr. Speaker! It is quite excellent that we return to the question of what is happening in the other countries in the region. It is very true, as the member pointed out earlier, that many of the Palestinian "refugees" are located in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Possibly this is an opportunity not only to have two thoughts in the head at the same time but also to tear off a bandage. Why is it reasonable in the year 2025 that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people who once fled are still regarded as refugees, still sit in refugee camps, and are still denied civil rights and the opportunity to be integrated in the countries they actually live in?
Think if we had acted that way! Think if the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the people who fled to Sweden during World War II from Finland, Estonia and Latvia, instead of, as several of them do, sitting in Sweden's Riksdag, would be sitting in refugee camps! What would that look like?
Is it not high time to tackle this issue, tear off the bandage and start finding solutions? We need to find solutions that allow the Palestinians who do not live in the state of Israel, where they have civil rights and can participate in democracy, and do not live in the Palestinian territories to be integrated where they live. They should be able to be integrated there until the day they can move to a future Palestinian state, which we want to establish and which naturally shall be free and democratic and respect human rights.
The absurdity that is ongoing must cease. But until then, it is naturally reasonable and important that we support various organizations that can help and support the people living in these different countries until they can be integrated there and get a better future than the one the world has offered them for 80 years.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! The situation in the Middle East is and remains very difficult. The humanitarian needs are enormous in quite many different countries in the region. We have mentioned several during the debate.
That is why the government has now decided to significantly increase its readiness to pay out additional humanitarian aid during 2025 by allocating 800 million kronor. With this, the government has the opportunity to continuously review how Sweden best supports the response to alleviate human suffering and reach people in need.
Sweden has previously provided support to countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon. Syria remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis areas right now, and Sweden continues to provide support throughout Syria, including the northeastern parts. Sweden's humanitarian aid to Syria in 2024 amounted to nearly a quarter of a billion kronor.
In addition, Sweden provides resilience support to Syria with the aim of strengthening local resilience among the Syrian population, Syrian refugees, and vulnerable groups in host communities in the neighboring countries Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
The government also decided this summer on a new regional aid strategy for the Syria crisis totaling 880 million kronor for 2024-2026. The strategy aims, among other things, to improve livelihood opportunities and provide better access to basic social services.
The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is also still very large and extensive. In light of growing needs during 2024, the government could act quickly to increase the humanitarian support to the country, which totaled 240 million kronor last year. The support went, among other things, to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' work with emergency medical care, blood banks, and ambulance services.
I also want to emphasize that Sweden is one of the largest donors of flexible core funding to many humanitarian actors operating in the region, such as Unicef and the International Red Cross Movement, which, among other things, work to strengthen access to education and healthcare for the most vulnerable.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Mr. Speaker! I am somewhat concerned about the level of debate here in the chamber from some members. Sweden has voted for resolution after resolution establishing the Palestinians' right of return. Should one suddenly go against the UN resolutions that one has voted for oneself?
It is also a bit ironic that a party representing a government that does everything possible to get refugees to return to their home countries is suddenly standing here and saying that certain refugees should not have the right to return to the countries they came from. They are suddenly to settle somewhere else, and you want to force other countries to give them citizenship.
The chairman speaks about tearing off the bandage. Absolutely - we can tear off the bandage right here and now! An end to the occupation and getting rid of all the settlers - that bandage we can tear off.
Here and now, however, we are not talking about the occupation and the occupied territories. I want to know instead what will happen for the approximately 2 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, the more than 500,000 refugees in Syria, and the barely 500,000 refugees in Lebanon. Who will ensure that they receive education? Who will ensure that they receive basic healthcare? Who will take care of their needs when we no longer provide support to UNRWA?
It is not just about humanitarian efforts in the form of disaster relief, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs points out, but it is about basic things such as education and healthcare. It is about food. These are the types of efforts that UNRWA has provided since 1949 and which the government is now no longer providing funds for. Who is to take over the responsibility for the Palestinian refugees outside the Palestinian territories, asks the Minister of Foreign Affairs?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Mr. Speaker! Against the background of the enormous humanitarian needs in the world, the government has decided to significantly strengthen its preparedness to pay out additional humanitarian aid during the year in the event of suddenly emerging, worsening, or underfunded crises. We have touched upon all of this.
I have also accounted for the government's work during the past year with many new packages to several of the countries we have discussed during the debate, in addition to the very extensive core support packages that exist for many of the organizations that are also active in the region.
The government also decided not to renew the core support to the UN relief agency UNRWA during 2025. The government's focus under extremely challenging conditions on the ground is to alleviate the suffering of civilians in need. The world's needs are essentially infinite, and the Swedish state budget is finite. It is a matter of life and death for people who are in acute need of help. The government will continuously review the Swedish support to ensure that it reaches those in need in the best possible way.
When it comes to UNRWA specifically, I also want to emphasize that the government continues to stand by its criticism of the Israeli laws regarding the organization, which risk making it almost impossible for UNRWA to operate in Gaza but also hinder UNRWA's activities in neighboring countries, as we have also discussed during the debate.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.