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On 9 September 2024, a majority of Switzerland’s parliament voted to suspend payments to the UNRWA, a part of the United Nations that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.
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The proposition was put forward by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and was supported by 99 versus 88 members, with 7 abstaining, reported parlament.ch. The result was against the view of the Federal Council and a commission looking at the issue.
The argument for ending the payments centres on concerns that the agency is doing a poor job of ensuring the money does not fall in to the wrong hands, in particular those with links to terrorism. Certain members of the organisation active in UNRWA schools celebrated the Hamas attacks on 7 October, and a dozen others probably took part in the attacks, said a member of the UDC/SVP. An inquiry by the former French foreign minister was unable to refute these allegations, according to the party.
During the same parliamentary session, parliament voted 120 versus 73 in favour of paying the money directly to the Palestinian population instead of to the UNRWA.
The Green Party argued in favour of continuing to pay the UNRWA arguing that there are no viable alternatives for providing the urgent humanitarian aid needed in Gaza. In addition, Ignazio Cassis, Switzerland’s foreign minister, argued that it would be difficult for another organisation or authority to undertake the tasks being carried out by the UN agency in Gaza.
More on this:
parlament.ch article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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