Response to interpellation 2024/25:73 on emergency support for Western Saharan refugee camps
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that Sweden is one of the largest donors to UNHCR and WFP 1 and that core funding makes it possible for organizations to adapt to new needs. M emphasizes that during 2024, Sweden channeled 10 million kronor in direct support to the camps 1 and that a political solution would be positive for stability 2. M considers the humanitarian situation to be serious 3. V argues that the current support is not enough and that extra emergency support is needed due to food shortages and floods 4 5. V considers that the Swedish core support has decreased 6. S argues that what exists today is not enough 7 and that the acute situation requires the world to react with emergency support to save lives 8. S considers it unsustainable for a people to live in refugee camps without the possibility of self-sufficiency and that a political solution is important 8.
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)
Madam Speaker! Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has asked me if I will work to ensure that Sweden sends emergency aid to the West Saharan refugee camps to meet the needs for food, medicine, and other supplies in the acute situation that currently prevails in the West Saharan refugee camps. Furthermore, Johnsson Fornarve has asked if I will act to guarantee long-term support to the West Saharan refugee camps to meet the more long-term needs for food, medicine, and other supplies.
I want to begin by emphasizing that the government's goal is to save lives, alleviate distress, and uphold human dignity for people who are subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, catastrophic conditions through Swedish humanitarian aid. Through the Swedish contributions, we want to fund the organizations that work effectively and transparently with a focus on the most vulnerable.
Through Sweden's long-term support to the Western Saharan refugee camps, Sweden is one of the largest donors of core funding to the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the UN food agency WFP. These agencies are the two largest UN agencies with operations in the refugee camps in Tindouf, and Sweden thus contributes funding to precisely these.
Regarding the question of emergency aid to the Western Saharan refugee camps, I would like to point out to Lotta Johnsson Fornarve that during 2024, Sweden, via Sida, channeled direct support to the camps in Tindouf amounting to 10 million kronor. The support includes, among other things, material disaster relief with shelter, water, medicine, and food. Additionally, the aid includes measures to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid, including logistics and communication systems.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer to my interpellation – even if I am not entirely satisfied with the answer!
The situation in the Western Saharan refugee camps in the Sahara Desert is acute and has significantly worsened during the recent period due to large cuts in aid while the number of refugees has increased. A few weeks ago, the camps were hit by heavy rains which led to major floods that have destroyed a large number of houses and ruined supplies.
A people already in a vulnerable position is now even more vulnerable. To then answer that Sweden already provides support through international organizations and a small amount of support via Oxfam does not help much. Extra acute support is needed in this very difficult situation.
It may be easy to forget the Western Sahara conflict in the context of all the other major conflicts ongoing around the world, but that does not make the Western Saharan situation any less serious – on the contrary. The world must be able to pay attention to more than one or two conflicts at a time.
The world has a responsibility to live up to the UN's decision on Western Sahara. Africa's last colony must be decolonized, something that has not yet occurred. In the Sahara desert, thousands of Western Saharan refugees have lived for almost 50 years under increasingly difficult conditions. The Western Saharan refugees fled from Western Sahara in connection with Morocco's illegal occupation of the country in 1975, an occupation that violates international law and the will of the UN and the International Court of Justice.
Morocco's occupation continues as always, and the Western Saharawis who have chosen to remain in the country are subjected to constant harassment and persecution. The situation has been further worsened by the war that has flared up again as a result of Morocco breaking the long ceasefire that had been in place since 1990 in 2020. The Western Saharawis living in the refugee camps want nothing more than to return home, but for that to happen, Morocco's occupation must cease. Until then, they have no other choice but to remain in one of the five refugee camps.
The refugee camps, which are located in the Sahara Desert, are characterized by inhospitable conditions that make agriculture and cultivation largely impossible. Due to the barren desert landscape, it is also not possible to meet either the food requirements or the need for water on one's own. The population is completely dependent on external humanitarian aid for their survival. The isolated geographical location also hinders the possibility of employment, and the sources of income are few.
The refugees must receive support here and now, and it is starting to become urgent. Sweden and the rest of the world cannot just watch; now immediate, powerful actions are required. Will the government send emergency aid to the Western Saharan refugee camps to meet the needs for food, medicine, and other supplies in this very difficult situation? Will the government guarantee long-term support to the Western Saharan refugee camps to meet the more long-term needs for food, medicine, and other supplies?
Jytte Guteland (S)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to the Minister for being here and also to Lotta Johnsson Fornarve for an important interpellation that means very much in the time we find ourselves in!
Just as the interpellator points out, the population of Western Sahara in the refugee camps, for example Tindouf where I myself have visited, is in a very extreme situation. There is a shortage of food, many children suffer from malnutrition, and hundreds of families have been affected by floods recently and lost their homes.
This is one of the refugee catastrophes that has been ongoing for the longest time in the world, the second longest according to the UN. As a government minister, of course, one knows that Western Sahara is Africa's last colony. For nearly 50 years, the Western Saharawis have been subjected to occupation. The country is on the UN's decolonization list. The world says, therefore, on paper that it supports the occupied, but in practice, very little is done to support the people. The EU Court of Justice has said that it is not right for us from the EU's side to trade with Morocco over the head of Western Sahara, so at the current moment, one simply withdraws the means of subsistence for the population.
Here we have a people who have taken refuge in refugee camps in Algeria to escape the occupation that is ongoing.
In the current situation, these refugee camps are subject to inhuman suffering. We know that many families with children are affected. I personally remember my journey to the refugee camps as something incredibly powerful that I will never forget. It is children who receive too little nutrition, and that was already the case before the even more extreme situation that we are experiencing right now.
Just as the interpellor says, the World Food Programme, which has been on site since the 80s, has seen that the situation has worsened. They have themselves been forced to reduce the monthly food rations by 30 percent. UNHCR has also reduced the aid to the refugee camps by 20 percent in 2024. This affects thousands of families, and as mentioned, it hits the children very hard. It is a matter of them growing up with a deficiency of nutrients and, in the worst cases, hunger and starvation.
Sweden needs to act in support of a vulnerable people and in support of refugees living under inhumane conditions. Therefore, we Social Democrats, in like manner with the interpellor, also wish to raise this issue: Will the government work to alleviate the situation for those refugees who live under inhumane conditions? Will emergency aid be sent or will it in some other way be ensured that supplies arrive? What exists today is not enough.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden has a long tradition of generous and ambitious humanitarian aid. Just the core support, which I raised in my first contribution, is among the largest in the entire world, so there Sweden has much to be proud of. It is precisely that type of core support that the large programs request, in order to be able to act quickly and ambitiously where one makes the greatest difference.
For Sweden's security and the stability of the world around us, it is crucial that the rules-based world order, international law, and respect for the UN Charter are upheld. The Government's view is that the question of Western Sahara's status can only be resolved through a just, sustainable, and mutually acceptable negotiated solution in accordance with international law, including the UN Security Council's resolutions.
A political solution to the Western Sahara issue would be positive for both the stability and the economic development in the region as well as, not least, for reducing the humanitarian suffering.
Western Sahara constitutes a decolonization issue within the UN, as was mentioned earlier during the debate. The International Court of Justice adopted an advisory opinion on the status of the territory already in 1975. This meant that the international community did not recognize Morocco's claims to sovereignty over the territory.
Sweden and the EU continue to support a just, sustainable and mutually acceptable negotiated solution to the issue of Western Sahara in accordance with international law, including the UN Security Council's resolutions.
The Government supports the efforts that Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Western Sahara, is making to achieve a political solution to the Western Sahara issue within the framework of the UN-led process.
The security situation in parts of Western Sahara is challenging, as was also mentioned earlier in the debate. There are violations of human rights, and freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and demonstration, and the right to privacy are restricted. Journalists are particularly affected, and arbitrary detentions occur. The situation is, in other words, very worrying.
In the latest report on Western Sahara from the UN Secretary-General, the importance of respecting, protecting and promoting human rights as well as the need for increased efforts and further support to meet the needs of the Western Saharan refugees is highlighted.
Sweden continues to be a strong voice and actor for democracy and human rights and is engaged in the international work to promote the protection of defenders of these rights.
The possibility of independent and impartial information gathering is necessary to monitor the situation regarding human rights in Western Sahara. The Government intends to continue to work for peace efforts, including conflict prevention and stabilization, in order to reduce conflicts that drive increased humanitarian needs.
Against this background, it is worth repeating that Sweden continues to support the UN's work for a solution to the Western Sahara issue based on international law, including the UN Security Council's resolutions. As stated, we remain one of the largest core donors to the programs that are in place. It is precisely core funding that these important UN organizations are requesting.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for further answers! I must say that I am pleased that the Minister stands up for the UN, for the resolutions that have been adopted there regarding Western Sahara, for international law and for a solution to the Western Sahara conflict.
It is good that Sweden has not changed its position regarding Western Sahara, but now it concerns the situation in the refugee camps. Yes, we provide core support, but on one hand, the Swedish core support has decreased, and on the other hand, the efforts being made are not sufficient for the situation that currently exists.
I have also visited the Western Saharan refugee camps several times, and I have seen how vulnerable they are. The Minister does not seem to have fully taken this in and realized that the situation has changed and deteriorated drastically and that the situation is becoming increasingly acute with each passing day due to food shortages and floods.
In the short term, the world needs to increase humanitarian aid, and in a broader perspective, Western Sahara's right to self-determination needs to be realized. The world cannot allow a people to be displaced to the desert, where they are made dependent on aid for half a century. This is crystal clear, but now instead the aid is decreasing drastically, just as we have heard here, while more and more refugees flow into the camps from the liberated part of Western Sahara as a result of the war. A difficult situation now risks becoming completely catastrophic.
As we have heard, the World Food Programme, which has been on site since the 80s, reduced the monthly food rations by 30 percent at the end of 2023. UNHCR has also reduced the aid to the refugee camps by 20 percent in 2024, something that directly affects tens of thousands of families.
A serious food shortage occurred during the summer for the vast majority of the population in the refugee camps, and now the Red Cross has cut the food rations to a minimum. Three out of four pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from severe anemia, and one-third of all children suffered from chronic malnutrition already in 2022, shows a survey from UNHCR and World Food Programme.
During the last two years, the situation has deteriorated further. The situation changed even more now in September when the heavy rains came, which led to floods. Schools, hospitals and infrastructure were destroyed, and hundreds of families lost their homes. The West Saharan Red Crescent reported that the West Saharan refugee camp Dakhla is now a disaster area.
A lot has happened that has caused the situation to change recently, and this means that urgent support is needed right now. It is not enough to provide the support we have given previously; now extra measures are needed.
I therefore repeat my question: Will the government, in this difficult situation, send emergency aid to the West Saharan refugee camps to meet the great needs for food, medicine, and other supplies and to meet the acute situation that currently prevails? And will the government guarantee long-term support to the West Saharan refugee camps? Will the support that is now being given to Oxfam continue forward? Even if the support is not so large, it is still important.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer here in the chamber! I also want, in like manner with the interpellor, to point out that it is good that we have a common view on what the legal situation is and that it violates international law to keep a people occupied in the way that Morocco does.
Also, in line with the interpellor, I can say that it is not sustainable for a people to live under such conditions in refugee camps for half a century, in a situation where they also do not have the possibility of subsistence or self-sufficiency. It is impossible to conduct proper agriculture or otherwise improve the situation for themselves and their loved ones. One is very dependent on aid and on the outside world to survive. It is obviously not sustainable. It is important to come up with a political solution. There we can, therefore, agree.
The acute situation, where families with children suffer from severe hunger and where pregnant women and everyone else are affected by nutritional deficiencies, leads to a dangerous situation for the fetuses. It is extremely important that the rest of the world reacts and provides emergency support. Therefore, I also want to ask how you intend to act now. It is about saving lives. It is children who are not receiving nutrition. Furthermore, the situation was difficult even before the war and the floods.
The climate threat also entails extreme weather with downpours that make the area even more inaccessible and entail a risk of various types of diseases. It is therefore very important to react with emergency support and not only safeguard the long-term aid.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! I can only agree with both Jytte Guteland and the interpellator that the humanitarian situation in the region is very serious. It is also, as is known, serious in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, Myanmar, and in many other places around the world. It is precisely for that reason that the lion's share of our humanitarian work takes place within the framework of the large UN programs, which can also pool resources from other countries and which are best equipped to gain humanitarian access. We are among the largest donors to the organizations that are on the ground, on site.
Regarding the climate threat, we know that the Middle East and North Africa are some of the most vulnerable regions when it comes to increased temperatures and drought. The climate affects, among other things, the food, energy, and water supply negatively. The increased food prices in the world as a result of both the pandemic and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine have made it difficult for, among others, UNHCR to provide sufficient support within the framework of the funds the UN has at its disposal.
Dependence on humanitarian aid is judged to persist in the absence of a solution to the conflict. It has also been mentioned. The civilian population is hit hardest by the conflict situation in Western Sahara. Refugees from Western Sahara have lived in camps near the Algerian city of Tindouf in the southwest since 1975. The heat, water shortage, and the challenging political and socio-economic context mean that people struggle to access means of subsistence. Our embassy in Algiers participated last November in UNHCR's donor visit to these countries. The situation for the Western Saharan refugees is very difficult with high air temperatures, lack of water, and lack of opportunities for subsistence.
The government also works to ensure that more countries, in line with Sweden, provide flexible, multi-year humanitarian funding in order to enable our partner organizations to quickly respond to emerging and worsening crises. Sweden is one of the largest core donors to both UNHCR and WFP. These UN organizations are those that have the largest operations in the Western Saharan refugee camps. UNHCR also works actively to include Western Saharan refugees in essential social services. They work with both authorities and civil society to reduce protection risks and facilitate access to employment.
By promoting participation in the local community, UNHCR strives to increase Western Saharan refugees' resilience, ensure their access to basic services, and create opportunities for self-sufficiency despite the challenges posed by long-term refugee status. In addition to aid to core support organizations, Sweden, through Sida, allocates a humanitarian support of an additional 10 million kronor per year to the refugee camp in Tindouf in Algeria.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the further answers! I think it is good that the Minister sees the difficult situation that the Western Saharan refugees live under in the refugee camps in the Sahara desert outside Tindouf. But it is not enough to merely refer to the support that Sweden already gives to, among others, UN organizations and Oxfam in this difficult situation, because now it is a new situation, which is dramatically changed and worsened. The situation is acute, and it is about saving lives. In that case, extra support is needed.
In the short term, the rest of the world needs to increase humanitarian aid in general, and in a broader perspective, Western Sahara's right to self-determination needs to be realized. The rest of the world cannot allow a people to be displaced into the desert, where they have been dependent on aid for half a century. The Western Sahara question must, naturally, find a solution.
The least one can do in this very difficult situation is to send emergency aid. Even a small amount would mean very much for these severely vulnerable Western Saharan refugees, especially women and children. Again: Will the government send emergency aid? Can it be imagined to reconsider this and send aid to the Western Saharan refugee camps to meet the acute needs for food, medicine and other supplies? Will the government guarantee that the long-term support to the Western Saharan refugee camps continues - not only the core support but also the support that Oxfam now receives and which, as far as I know, will otherwise be terminated during the next year?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! I agree, as I have said, with both Jytte Guteland and Lotta Johnsson Fornarve that the situation in the refugee camps is extremely acute.
I also want to lay out the text regarding the broader, long-term perspective, which was requested. The Government intends to increase the proportion of Swedish humanitarian aid within the existing aid budget to alleviate the distress of people affected by disasters, armed conflicts, displacement, insecure food supply, and famine. The regional strategy for the Middle East and North Africa aims for exactly that.
Sweden's extensive, flexible and multi-year core support also makes it possible for the humanitarian organizations working with refugees in the camps to adapt to new needs and prioritize their own activities. UNHCR has, for example, carried out interventions in various sectors aimed at improving people's standard of living by promoting community resilience in an innovative way. It is crucial, not least regarding the possibility of creating resilience against weather-induced disasters and thus also reducing humanitarian suffering.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.