Response to interpellation 2024/25:80 on patients from Gaza

Statsrådet Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Karin Rågsjö has asked me why I and the government do not want to receive patients from Gaza in acute need of care and why I and the government are prepared to provide healthcare to people from Ukraine but not from Gaza.

The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate and lasting ceasefire. The Government supports the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, increased humanitarian access, and a release of the hostages.

Israel must do more to follow the rules of international humanitarian law regarding the protection of the civilian population. This has been clearly conveyed by the government to the Israeli Foreign Minister on several occasions.

The central question for me as Minister for Health and Care is how Sweden can best contribute to a reduction in human suffering in the region.

Sweden has already been a major nuclear donor to all key humanitarian actors on the ground. I am proud of the fact that Sweden has, in addition, increased its humanitarian aid to Gaza by over 540 million kronor since October 2023. Sweden has, for example, provided extra support to Unicef, which assists children and families with health care and social support, as well as to UNFPA, which works with life-saving obstetric care, maternal health care, and care of newborns.

Furthermore, the government has tasked relevant authorities to donate medical technology equipment and healthcare supplies through the EU's civil protection mechanism, which has so far resulted in Sweden donating requested healthcare supplies to Egypt, which is receiving patients from Gaza. Sweden has also seconded experts to, among others, WHO and Unicef to assist in the humanitarian response.

The government will continue to support the humanitarian response in Gaza. With that, I would like to thank Karin Rågsjö for the question, and I look forward to the debate.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Karin Rågsjö (V)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer, which I did not consider to be an answer. It was quite difficult to understand what we can and cannot do. It was nevertheless clear that Sweden will not receive severely injured and sick people from Gaza for care in Sweden.

After Hamas' terror attack against Israel's population, the gates of hell opened for Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza lies in ruins; only rubble remains. Of the 43,000 killed Palestinians, 17,300 are children, and the unfathomable sum of 93,000 people are estimated to be injured.

At the same time, the entire healthcare system has completely collapsed, and most of Gaza's hospitals are completely out of operation. Israel has, among other things, bombed the most prominent cancer hospital in Gaza to pieces, and a few days ago the last hospital in northern Gaza was bombed. There are almost no hospitals left. An acute shortage of food and water makes the situation a catastrophe. Thousands of people in Gaza are in need of medical evacuation. Operations are performed without pain relief, and severely ill children who would have survived with care are dying.

Where is Sweden?

Separate data from Action on Armed Violence up to September 23 show that Israel has hit civil infrastructure once every three hours since the war began. During the last year, Israel has committed serious violations of international humanitarian law on a level that could constitute crimes against humanity. The Israeli military has targeted infrastructure that is indispensable for civilians' survival - hospitals but also, for example, schools. Civilians have been forcibly displaced dozens of times without humanitarian commitments to places that have been regularly bombed and attacked.

The UN's report on children and armed conflicts particularly highlights the number of Palestinian children who have been killed in Gaza and in the West Bank. During the last year, more than five times as many children were killed in Gaza than between 2005 and 2022 worldwide. This is from Oxfam.

It is a humanitarian catastrophe we can see in Gaza, and the hospitals lie in ruins. The EU Commission has pleaded with the member states to receive Palestinian patients, but despite the fact that Swedish healthcare has the capacity to save lives, the government refuses to do so.

Already in May, the EU's Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, appealed to the EU's member states for help. WHO has identified approximately 10,000 seriously ill people who are in acute need of care, and the EU was urged to receive a portion of these patients. It concerns people who have been injured by Israel's bombs but also cancer patients who are now without care - and about children, of course. WHO is coordinating the efforts more effectively now than before, and Médecins Sans Frontières offers to support the government with its personnel on the ground. They have been very clear about that.

Where is Sweden? Swedish healthcare personnel stand ready to save lives. Why does the government not want to accept patients from Gaza in need of care? We still do not understand this.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Tony Haddou (V)

Madam Speaker! We heard a deeply concerning statement from the Minister for Health and Social Affairs, who does not at all answer the questions that have been asked.

I note, however, how the Minister in an innovative way attempts to revise history by saying that the government supports the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza or by giving his opinion on how Sweden best contributes to reduced human suffering in the area.

This is a catastrophic error. We have seen with all clarity how the government has acted over the past year, first when the UN presented the proposal for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Then the government chose to abstain. When the UN, barely two months ago, presented the proposal that required Israel to withdraw its occupation of Palestinian territories, the government chose to again abstain, even though the entire basis for the suffering is Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine. And earlier this year, the government was about to pause its support to the UN agency UNRWA, one of the few organizations that has had access to the most vulnerable areas in Gaza. The Minister for Health is trying to give the appearance of, thus, it is not credible at all.

Madam Speaker! A terrible genocide is taking place in Gaza. Tens of thousands have been killed. Israel is killing Palestinian civilians, not only with weapons and bombs but by starving the population and through collective punishment where they deliberately block deliveries and obstruct humanitarian aid. At the same time, the healthcare system in Gaza has collapsed. Healthcare is largely knocked out after repeated bombings.

Not even once have I heard Sweden's government condemn the war crimes. I have not heard you condemn the bombs over hospitals, maternity clinics and vaccination clinics or over schools and refugee camps. I have, however, heard the government call what Israel is doing against Palestinians in Gaza proportionate. It is a horrific attitude.

When the EU pleaded that one should receive the injured and sick from Gaza, the Swedish government denied this request, even though it concerns people who have been injured by Israel's bombing and those who are sick and are not receiving their treatments.

The situation on the ground is such that children are being amputated daily without anesthesia. Operations are being performed without pain relief. Severely ill children who could survive are dying because the care is not available. They are in need of medical evacuation.

It is inconceivable that the government then says no to accepting patients from Gaza. The only right thing would be to reconsider the decision so that we can begin evacuating patients. It is about upholding humanitarian law.

Now the Minister for Health and Social Affairs has the chance. I implore, urge, and demand that the Minister takes this chance. It is entirely possible to evacuate children and relatives who need care. Other countries are already doing this today.

Many of those who want us to receive patients and who are listening to this debate have chosen to work within healthcare because they uphold the humanitarian right. They stand ready, and the Swedish healthcare system stands ready.

We did not hesitate for a second to receive war-wounded patients from Ukraine, and we have the capacity and possibility to receive patients from Gaza. We should do that immediately as well.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Karin Rågsjö, for this interpellation, and thank you, the Minister, for the answer!

At the end of August, I wrote a debate article in Aftonbladet together with six of the Miljöpartiets regional politicians regarding the very issue we are debating here today. We noted, among other things, that it is not worthy to make a distinction between people and people in the way the government does when Sweden accepts patients from Ukraine but says no to patients from Gaza, despite an explicit request from the EU Commission to assist with the evacuation and care of the seriously injured.

Since August, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has become even worse, and many of us are following the developments with horror and anger. The crisis is a consequence of Israel's warfare and has affected civilian institutions and specifically healthcare on a large scale. That Sweden in this situation continues to not want to assist with care in Sweden is beyond all criticism.

A very large proportion of the victims are children. The responsibility rests heavily on the outside world to act for these children, and Sweden must do more.

The government has constantly referred to interventions in the surrounding area, which the Minister also does in his response, and to the fact that Sweden contributes with humanitarian aid on site. This is of course good, but it is insufficient.

Human Rights Watch has recently stated that medical equipment and supplies are not reaching through and that Israel has now also banned UNRWA's operations in Gaza. This will have devastating consequences because the entire humanitarian system in Gaza relies on precisely UNRWA. Even before this decision was made, Human Rights Watch and other actors had documented that there is an acute shortage of water, medical equipment, and electricity.

There is no contradiction between trying to help on-site and committing to accepting patients from Gaza. Norway has contributed 470 million kronor and simultaneously committed to accepting patients from Gaza. Sweden should also have the capacity to do both.

We are now in a situation where Gaza's healthcare system has almost completely collapsed. In September, Human Rights Watch wrote in the Riksdag that fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals were partially functioning and that there was a serious shortage of medicines. Furthermore, approximately 500 healthcare workers have been killed, according to the World Health Organization.

Human Rights Watch also points out that no evidence has been presented that would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law, despite the Israeli military's claims that Hamas has its bases in the hospitals.

It is obvious that stronger pressure from the international community on the Israeli government to cease illegal attacks on, for example, hospitals is required. But the Swedish government has so far not wanted to contribute to this increased pressure. When the EU wants to introduce sanctions, they hold back. When the UN votes on ending the occupation, Sweden abstains. When the UN votes on a ceasefire and on allowing humanitarian aid in Gaza, Sweden also abstains. And now the government also does not want to accept patients from Gaza, despite the EU Commission's request. It is completely unworthy.

Madam Speaker! It is high time that Sweden joins the other EU countries that have so far accepted patients from Gaza, including Spain and Belgium. It is not reasonable that the neighboring countries should continue to bear the greatest burden; Egypt has truly done its part. And it is truly not reasonable that Sweden continues to say no to the request to accept patients.

The violence in Gaza has been completely disproportionate. During the past year, more women and children have been killed in Gaza than during a year in any other conflict in the last 20 years. It is not worthy of a Swedish government to stand so paralyzed in action in this situation.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Andreas Lennkvist Manriquez (V)

Madam Speaker and Minister! When students in grade 9 today open their history book to read about the Vietnam War, they are met with a picture of a girl who, naked and crying, flees the flames of the napalm bombs. The picture, taken by AP photographer Nick Ut, came to become a symbol of the war's brutality.

When the students of the future open their schoolbooks to read about our time, they will be met by another image, which, although taken decades later, in another place on earth far from Vietnam's rice fields, but which depicts the same inferno, the same cruelty, and the same ruthlessness. It is the image of 19-year-old Ahmad al-Dalou, who is burned to death in one of the tent camps in central Gaza. One sees him lying in his bed and struggling to stretch out his hands in cries for help while he is consumed by the flames. It is an image that has already become a symbol of the brutal acts being committed during the ongoing genocide.

Madam Speaker! Since Israel's invasion of Gaza, over 43,000 people have been killed and 100,000 injured, schools and hospitals have been destroyed, tent camps have been bombed and patients have been burned to death. In last week's report from the UN special envoy, it clearly emerges that Israel deliberately targets Gaza's healthcare system as part of its warfare. It is both a violation of international law as well as a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Since May this year, the international community has pleaded with us in Sweden to accept severely injured patients from Gaza. WHO has even compiled a list of the most critical patients in urgent need of care. But instead of heeding this, the government has responded with passivity and idle talk about helping on-site. But what help and at what location, Madam Speaker? The hospitals are bombed out, and only one doctor remains at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. UNRWA, the UN's agency in Palestine, has been forbidden by the Israeli regime. What is the Minister waiting for?

The European Commission urges us to accept patients. The profession and Vårdförbundet support it. Several countries, such as Belgium, Norway, Spain, and even Meloni's Italy, have already accepted patients. Why does the Council of State and the government refuse to accept Palestinian patients? Why are you ignoring the demands of the international community?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! Yesterday, the news came from the WHO that there are at least 10,000 children in northern Gaza who have not been successfully vaccinated. The government says that it wants to help on the ground and is sending funds, money, and medicines to Gaza, but it is obviously not getting through because so many children have still not been vaccinated.

So far, at least 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza. The figure is probably significantly higher because at least 10,000 people are estimated to be buried under the rubble. At least 17,000 of those who have died are children. 17,000 children have also lost one or both parents.

Today, over 102,000 people in Gaza are injured. Of these, it is estimated that 14,000 patients will need care outside Gaza, care that currently cannot be obtained in Gaza. What is the reason for this? Well, medicine is not getting through. Hospitals have also been bombed. 19 of 36 hospitals are completely knocked out, and all other hospitals are damaged and only partially functional. 130 ambulances have been shelled by Israel.

Every day, ten children in Gaza lose one or both of their legs. This happens every day. Some of the amputations that are forced to be performed occur because the correct medical help is not available on site. They are therefore forced to amputate one leg or both legs. Often, the amputation occurs entirely without anesthesia, because that type of medicine is also not available. Many of these amputations could easily have been avoided if the correct medical help had been available on site. But it is not available today.

I said that ten children per day lose one leg or both. That does not count all the children who lose a hand or an arm because this does not prevent their mobility on the ground and therefore is not included in the statistics. But taste the figure: Ten children per day lose one leg or both. And we say that we want to help on the spot. It is not worthy.

Already within a month after Russia's full-scale attack against Ukraine, Swedish hospitals received Ukrainian wounded, rightly so. It is the only right thing we can do. As we have heard here earlier during the debate, there is possibility and capacity at Swedish hospitals to receive wounded from Gaza, and we know that the need is great.

At least 14,000 injured in Gaza cannot receive the help they need on site. What is Sweden doing in that situation? Why can Sweden not also receive the injured from Gaza?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, all the debaters who are part of this very important debate!

I assume that foreign policy will be taken in a different debate, because this is about healthcare issues. Let us concentrate on what is my area of responsibility. But it still needs to be said that the Foreign Minister has been very clear that one must not bomb things that are included in humanitarian law. One must never bomb hospitals or ambulances. It does not matter where in the world it is.

This is a red line that we have lived with previously. In the midst of all the terrible wars that are ongoing, one still has some kind of rules to adhere to. Previously, I thought it was almost strange that one could have rules in a war, but it is actually completely necessary to have them. The rules have been violated here. They have been violated in other places. It is never acceptable.

That is also why Sweden has chosen not to shirk its responsibility, but instead to ensure that we provide what is most urgent. Help is needed on the ground, because one cannot get out of Gaza since there is a blockade at the exits. One could get out at the beginning of the period, but it is very difficult to get out today. That is why the UN agencies are on site.

I am very surprised when members question whether the UN agencies use their money for what they are supposed to. Is it the members' opinion that the UN agencies we send money to are embezzling the money? That is not the government's opinion.

We support the UN agencies on the ground. Member after member has asked: Are the funds arriving? Are they making any difference? The 540 million we have given so far, in addition to core support, is absolutely necessary, because it is very difficult to provide aid in any other way. We have also assisted Egyptian authorities, who have done and are doing very much. Not least, they have received the medical equipment that is used every day - ventilators, medicines, and much more.

What we provide to the UN agencies concerns precisely those things that must take place on-site, such as maternity care and neonatal care. These are patients who cannot be sent away in a medical evacuation.

I am glad that there are countries that have succeeded with the evacuation, but they are very few, I want to say. Within the EU, we work through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. I just want to point out that it was not activated by the Commission in the spring, but it took quite a long time before it was activated. It was a deficiency, but now it has been rectified.

Since September, the evacuation within the EU has begun to take place. It is five countries that have done it, and there have been 45 evacuations. That is quite few in relation to the need. It must nevertheless be emphasized.

It means that there are difficulties with the evacuation. We must know the name of the patient. We must have consent from parents, as there are many children that we would need to provide help to. It has been great difficulties for neighboring countries to get this done. In some cases, it has taken so long to request information that the child no longer needed the care that was requested.

There is a difference in relation to Ukraine. There, we have a mass flight directive in place. The EU has not activated anything such as that when it comes to Gaza, which makes it very difficult.

But the most important thing, when we know that it does not work to carry out a medical evacuation on a large scale, is to still do what we can. We have not made a decision not to carry out any medical evacuations. There is no such decision. We are constantly following the situation and the developments in reality, week by week, and the day it becomes possible to have medical evacuations that work and have an effect – i.e., that the person who needs care receives help through a medical evacuation – then Sweden will also be able to assist. But as long as the conditions do not exist, nothing will be done. Norway has been mentioned here. They have still not received a single one.

I do not think it feels good that countries promise medical evacuation and then do nothing. The day Sweden says that we can do it, we must also be ready so that it can become a reality.

For the time being, we intend to continue to provide all the support we can to the UN agencies on the ground. They are there and are operating both inside and outside Gaza to provide the best care right now. We follow this every week, and we will return later.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Karin Rågsjö (V)

Madam Speaker and Minister! Everyone who works inside Gaza, and there are fewer and fewer of them, say in a very loud voice that the possibility of helping on site will soon be completely gone. The hospitals are being bombed. Where is one to work with amputations and so on? It is unfortunately no longer possible.

In July, 16 Palestinian children and their relatives were evacuated via Egypt to Spain and several other countries, for example Romania and Italy. But despite the fact that Sweden has the capacity and the possibility, the Swedish government still says no. A year has passed. There are possibilities.

Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm has told DN that they both want to and can take their responsibility. The organization Sjukhusläkarna says the same thing. Vårdförbundet is pushing for us to receive injured and seriously ill patients.

I personally visited Aleris Rehab in Solna and met a Ukrainian soldier who was currently undergoing rehabilitation. Sweden reacted very quickly to Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, and we are very proud that we did not hesitate to receive war-wounded patients. 185 patients from Ukraine have received rehabilitation in Sweden.

Then it should be just as obvious to accept patients from Gaza. The difference in how the government has treated Ukrainian wounded and all the wounded from Gaza, adults and children, is quite large. It is no exaggeration. There are very many who are pushing for this.

We want the government to immediately instruct the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare to be prepared to receive patients from Gaza. We see that nothing is happening, and we are very concerned.

On September 19, 37 child patients and 79 relatives were evacuated via Egypt to EU countries, but not to Sweden. We thank Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Slovakia, who have taken their responsibility. Several medical evacuations to the EU have been made in recent months. The Commission continues its efforts to get all countries on track. Where is Sweden?

The Minister speaks of aid on the ground. I really wonder where – in the rubble piles that remain of the hospitals in Gaza?

WHO has estimated that 10,000 people need immediate medical evacuation. We have the knowledge. We have the capacity. The least we can do now is to receive patients in this people's war. Even Carl Bildt says that it is a people's war. It is not only Vänsterpartiet that says so.

It is about humanism. Once we were a humanistic superpower - for a very long time, actually. But since the government took office in 2022 with SD's support, there are no ambitions at all to provide protection on site here. It is very clear, we think.

WHO has now announced that 1,000 patients can be evacuated from Israel to Europe. Sweden should be ready. The crossing to Rafah has been closed, and it has resulted in that only 229 people have been able to get through. Now it can be opened for more, and then Sweden shall be there.

There is no conflict between providing financial contributions and receiving patients. Sweden has the capacity to do both. Médecins Sans Frontières has said that they can help.

Now, 6,075 patients have been approved to leave. 80 percent have succeeded. They have mainly come to Egypt and the neighboring countries, which have taken an enormous responsibility. Now Europe must step up. Now Sweden must step up.

Why does the government not want to receive patients from Gaza in acute need of care? There are no longer any hospitals there that can care for the sick and the injured.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Tony Haddou (V)

Madam Speaker! One wonders what kind of gaslighting this is – that we should question the UN and so on. It is the Minister's government that has handled, for example, the UN agency UNRWA catastrophically during the year.

Then we hear here from the minister's incomprehensible, illogical and unserious arguments, I must say, as if Ukrainians are here under the mass flight directive. It is about their refugee status. Evacuation of patients is something completely different. I think it is distressing that one uses that argumentation.

We did not hesitate for a second to receive patients from Ukraine. Therefore, we want an answer as to why the minister does not want to receive patients from Gaza. This point about helping on-site is completely incomprehensible. The healthcare system has collapsed. Why is this distinction made between people and their value? There are real conditions to receive patients from Gaza. Do not make this distinction between people! They have the same value. It is actually inconceivable, I must say, that the minister is not prepared to reconsider this decision.

The situation on the ground is brutal. It is appalling. It is horrific. To then not want to do more is a reprehensible attitude, I think. One can actually do more but consciously chooses not to do so. It is completely incomprehensible. This clearly shows that this government has not only weakened Sweden's humanitarian voice in the world. They have silenced it.

One is ashamed. Besides reconsidering this decision, we should do everything we can to stop the genocide, the bombings, and the siege of the healthcare. It is horrific how the Palestinians are being treated. The government has a chance and an opportunity to do more but deliberately chooses not to take that chance. I think that is a reprehensible and poor attitude.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the second answer! The Government has repeatedly referred to the fact that Sweden helps on the ground in various ways. That is naturally good, as I said several times in my previous speech. But it is not enough to help on the ground in a collapsed healthcare system.

The government's continued refusal to accept patients from Gaza becomes even more bizarre when actors within the Swedish healthcare system come out and say that they stand ready to receive the patients. Already in August, Karolinska and Aleris, who have cared for most from Ukraine, announced that they were ready to receive patients from Gaza.

The hospital doctors, which is the largest professional association within Läkarförbundet, also said already in August that the government's position on the issue is concerning, especially since healthcare providers have stated that they have capacity and that this would not affect other care.

Last week, Vårdförbundet also came out and demanded that the government reconsider its decision. Vårdförbundet cited this, among other things, as a reason: "The respect for protecting healthcare facilities and their staff is conspicuously absent. Healthcare is more or less being compromised and our colleagues in the region risk their lives every day and plead for help."

Madam Speaker! The Government has expressed the view that it is too expensive, too difficult and too inefficient to receive patients from Gaza, but also positions based on this argument should now be reconsidered because the World Health Organization just over two weeks ago said that up to 1,000 women and children who need urgent care within a short time will be able to be evacuated from Gaza to Europe, and then Israel has said it is willing to contribute to this. The World Health Organization and the involved European countries will assist each other with the evacuations. The structure around this is therefore in place.

The Minister stated in his contribution that the government will act and potentially reconsider its position when the conditions are met. Those conditions are now met.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Andreas Lennkvist Manriquez (V)

Madam Speaker and Minister! Providing aid on the ground is not only insufficient but almost impossible now that UNRWA has been banned while aid shipments are being stopped by the Israeli government.

While we stand here in this chamber, people are dying because the most basic care is missing. Infants are suffocating in their incubators. Women are undergoing cesarean sections without anesthesia. Health centers are being bombed. Vaccination centers for children are being bombed. In this situation, when the international community pleads with us in Sweden for help, the Minister chooses to refer to Egypt. I find that frightening.

Why is it so difficult for the government and the Council of State to receive Palestinian patients? The capacity exists here. Karolinska and Aleris, which have received and cared for a majority of those evacuated from Ukraine, say that they stand ready here and now to receive patients from Gaza. Why does the Council of State and the government refuse to receive patients from Palestine?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! First, I must say that no one here has in any way accused the UN of not doing what it is supposed to do. The UN is doing a fantastic job in Gaza and in the surrounding area. But there are other problems. The aid is not getting through. That is not due to the UN, but it is due to Israel stopping them.

During October, an average of 30 trucks were let into Gaza per day. That is 30 trucks for a population of 2.2 million people. Before the war started just over a year ago, the average was between 300 and 400 trucks per day. The UN has said that at least 100 trucks per day are required just to bring in the basics regarding food and medicine. It is therefore not the UN's fault that the aid is not getting in. It is administrative obstacles.

It is the type of administrative obstacles that the Minister also points out – it is still not possible to get people out. What is the government doing to address these administrative obstacles? How does one put pressure on Israel to let in aid and let out those who need medical care?

On October 10, the UN established that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed when hospitals in Gaza have been bombed. There is a principle called responsibility to protect, that is, the responsibility to protect. We, as part of the international community, have a responsibility to protect the civilian population when war crimes are committed.

The Minister says again: We want to help on the ground. Yes, but the UN has established that at least 14,000 patients in Gaza cannot receive the care they need in Gaza. In that case, it doesn't matter how much help we send there, because they still will not be able to receive that care there.

In what way does it help to help on the spot when 14,000 people cannot receive the care they need because equipment, hospitals, medicines, and knowledge are lacking? We must accept these.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Members of the House! If one says that the aid is not reaching its destination, do you mean that Unicef and UNFPA, which is the population program that primarily has our mandate to work with newborns, maternal care, and childbirth, are wasting the money? No, they use it. Thousands of people have received help through the more than half a billion that we have sent there. They receive help through the money we give.

Karin Rågsjö says that the government has no ambitions to provide aid on-site. That is what the member explicitly said, and it can be found in the minutes eventually. Yes, we are doing exactly that - for more than half a billion.

Now Sweden must step up, it is said. Yes, we are one of the largest donors, not just in the regular core support that is necessary to give to Palestine. Last time I looked - it may have been adjusted in the last few days - we have been since October last year the fifth largest donor of support within the EU.

We are one of the largest donors because we must provide help. It is absolutely necessary to do this. It is not possible to leave the Palestinian people in the lurch.

To claim that Sweden is not stepping up is simply completely wrong. What the members are asking for is that Sweden should receive a few patients. Let me therefore raise the example of Ukraine, Madam Speaker. It matters, because visa issues apply. I have been involved in medical evacuation. I have been at the hub that receives them. I know in detail exactly how it works, from all our authorities that are on site. Visas must also be handled, and therefore the mass refugee directive has facilitated this. It is tricky that the EU Commission has not raised that issue, which complicates things. They must, in fact, seek asylum and become quota refugees. We will solve that. But it is the other things that are difficult for us.

Now we have a choice. Will we be able to enable medical transports? Our colleagues in the EU think it is difficult. It is only about 45 so far. Then we have a choice: Shall we continue with the help that we give to thousands, or shall we spend time and energy on doing something else?

Ulrika Westerlund said that the government says it is too expensive. We have never said that. I have never said that we do not have the capacity to receive. There has not been a single such word from me, because I know that Sweden's healthcare always provides what it can. There is no discussion. We have never said that. Feel free to bring out that quote!

I get irritated when people claim things that are not true. What you could discuss is whether we are giving too little money to Palestine right now. That is a relevant discussion that we always need to have. How much should we give in support and in what way? Are we giving to the right UN bodies? Most of what we give goes to UN bodies, and we also give to some other non-profit organizations, for example the Norwegian Flyktninghjelpen. We can have a discussion about that. Is Sida using the right bodies? That is always a relevant discussion. I have also asked organizations on the ground if they see that the aid is reaching its destination or if it disappears. Yes, there is aid, but we need more, they say. On that, we are in complete agreement.

We in Sweden are doing our part, and we intend to continue to do so because it is absolutely necessary.

Moving forward, we hope to focus on the aid that helps many thousands instead of individuals coming to Sweden. It is one or two per week from Ukraine. That is what it is about. We have received 202 so far since February 2022. We never receive anyone during the summer, because MSB cancels all medical evacuations then. One third are wounded in war, the others are cancer patients. It is a few who come that way, and I am therefore a bit uncertain about the figures that Member Westerlund received from Aleris.

I also want to turn against those who say that we accept because it is good training for our healthcare workers. We do not accept for those reasons. We accept because people need help and medical care. That is also the reason why we provide help on site. We do not do it for our own reasons, but we do it because one has a humanitarian mission and wants people to receive care in the best possible way.

We will continue to prioritize support for all civilians affected by war. Gaza is one of the worst places to be right now, and therefore we must maintain that support.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Karin Rågsjö (V)

Madam Speaker! Minister! Everyone working in Gaza says that help is needed now, hands on! There are, in fact, almost no hospitals left. They lie in the rubble.

According to Unicef, over 50 children were killed in a couple of days in Israeli attacks in Gaza a few days ago, most in the northern parts of the enclave where the escape routes are blocked and many people have been left behind. Some of the attacks have hit vaccination centers. It is not acceptable that children cannot even be safe when they go for health and medical care, says Lotta Sylwander at Unicef in Sweden.

Children who need care do not receive care. Why can Sweden not even save seriously ill children by evacuating them, just as other countries have done? It is entirely possible. The conditions exist, I promise.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank all the voluntary organizations that are on the ground in Gaza. Doctors Without Borders writes as follows: "Israel has shown a total lack of respect when it comes to protecting Gaza's healthcare facilities. We see how hospitals are transformed into morgues, sometimes into ruins. They are subjected to attacks, gunfire, and raids; they are surrounded and attacked by tanks. Patients and medical personnel are being killed. The World Health Organization WHO has documented 178 attacks against healthcare, including 22 deaths and 48 injured among healthcare personnel on duty. Medical personnel, including those from Doctors Without Borders, are completely exhausted and desperate. They have been forced to amputate arms and legs on children with severe burns, without access to anesthesia or sterilized instruments. As a result of forced evacuations ordered by Israeli soldiers, some doctors have been forced to abandon their patients because otherwise they themselves risk their lives."

That is how it looks in Gaza. Where is Sweden? It is clear that the conditions exist! We must help in a completely different way, we believe. Economic aid is good, but hands-on help is needed! It is so important.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, all members, for the commitment!

It is absolutely necessary that Sweden is engaged when people are affected, whether it concerns Sudan – I hope that also gets debate time in the chamber – or Ukraine or Gaza. When it comes to Gaza, it is hardly possible to even describe what the situation is, but I think Member Rågsjö describes well what it looks like for people in Gaza right now.

What is being said is that the only thing that matters is that a few patients, which is what it is about, come to Sweden. That is all that counts, not all the thousands that Sweden has helped through the support we give to various non-profit organizations and UN bodies that operate on the ground. This is of no significance.

That we very quickly provided funds, first for food but now also for medical treatments, is of no importance. No one is discussing the level of what we have given - over half a billion. It doesn't matter. But if we were to provide assistance for medical evacuations for a few, then we are good.

It is a strange discussion, because there are so many affected right now in Gaza. It must be about aid to thousands. We must make the right efforts. It will shift from week to week, because it is about the fact that we need to get an immediate, sustained ceasefire, not just a temporary pause as it has been a few times, so that we can come in and truly provide support and aid in the best way. The work is taking place in diplomatic circles and between countries.

What we are discussing today is healthcare. Sweden will maintain its support for the civilians affected in Palestine. We will do our very best to provide as much support as possible.

The question of medical evacuation may recur. At this moment, Sweden assesses that it has not been possible to achieve any significant effect from it. To say, as Norway does, that one accepts [patients], and then none come, month after month – that is, to promise something that cannot be implemented – does not give hope to the healthcare work in Palestine or Gaza.

The day we can supplement our efforts with medical evacuations, it must be because it can be carried out. The individuals must also give their consent to come to Sweden.

Thank you to the members for the debate! Thank you for your commitment!

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)