Commission calls for reform of refugee aid for Palestinians
Published: Tuesday, Jul 2nd 2024, 17:00
Volver a Live Feed
The responsible National Council committee is calling for a reform of refugee aid for Palestinians. A motion is to be tabled calling on the Federal Council to campaign internationally for a successor solution to UNRWA.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council (FAC-N) adopted a corresponding motion by 17 votes to 8, as reported by the parliamentary services on Tuesday. The National Council will decide on this next.
According to the text of the motion, the Federal Council should be instructed to lobby the international community for a successor solution to the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and to direct its funding accordingly as soon as the current armed conflict in Gaza allows. In doing so, the state government should examine alternatives - for example, whether Palestinian aid can be integrated into the UNHCR refugee aid organization.
The majority argue that UNRWA's presence in the Middle East has become vital for the approximately 5 million Palestinians. However, the comprehensive aid makes it impossible to create their own livelihood. This creates room for corruption and the detour of funds into terrorist channels instead of serving to build an efficient economy.
Controversial aid organization
The UN maintains two refugee aid organizations, the UNHCR and UNRWA. The UNHCR looks after all refugees worldwide, while UNRWA, which was founded in 1949 as a result of the Palestine War, looks after Palestinian refugees.
As things stand, Switzerland is transferring CHF 10 million to UNRWA this year. The Foreign Affairs Committees of both Councils agreed with this humanitarian emergency aid in the Gaza Strip, but demanded that the money be used exclusively for urgent needs.
UNRWA is controversial, with several states temporarily suspending their payments in January. There have been accusations that the aid organization's schools in the Palestinian territories incite hatred against Israel and glorify terrorist attacks.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic