Swiss aid payments for UNRWA are in doubt

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip ride on a cart in Rafah, January 27, 2024. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Several countries have paused funding for the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), following allegations that some of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Switzerland is awaiting the results of an investigation before deciding on its future funding of UNRWA.

On Friday, UNRWA announced that it had opened an investigation into several employees and severed ties with those people suspected of being involved in the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7 against Israel.

Less than 24 hours later, several countries have temporarily paused funding to the aid agency, a critical source of support for people in Gaza, after the allegations by Israel. They reportedly include Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, the United States, Australia and Canada.

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Switzerland has indicated that it is waiting for the results of the investigation to decide “what action to take” regarding its financial contribution to UNRWA.

The Alpine country initially declared, like the European Union, that it would await the results of the UNRWA investigation before making any decision. Then the Swiss foreign ministry indicated that the contributions to UNRWA planned for this year, which have not yet been paid, would only be paid once it had more information on these serious allegations.

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This is not a suspension of funding but a need for further analysis of the situation before making payments, the Swiss ministry says.

The analysis could therefore be done independently and more quickly than the investigation carried out by the UN agency.

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Elected officials opposed to the Swiss contribution

Some Swiss politicians are now calling for an immediate suspension of Swiss funding. At the end of last year, the House of Representatives called for Switzerland to end its funding of UNRWA, which amounts to CHF20 million per year, due to possible collusion between the UN agency and Hamas.

Pierre-André Page of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party told Swiss public radio RTS on Saturday: “I believe that Switzerland must really be strict. We must help the population who are in difficulty, but not through a terrorist organisation.”

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The Swiss Senate opposed the House of Representatives decision, and a compromise was found. The funding was reduced by CHF10 million and attached with conditions. The foreign policy committees of parliament must, for example, be regularly informed of humanitarian funds intended in the Middle East and how they are used.

With this in mind, the UNRWA commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, must soon appear before a Swiss foreign policy commission to help shed light on this matter.

‘No tolerance for supporting terrorism’

For Pierre-André Page, it is naive to think that UNRWA is not involved in the actions of its employees: “I have no tolerance for supporting terrorism. We have proof that money was paid to support Hamas and Mr. Lazzarini quickly fired twelve employees before there was an investigation.”

Carlo Sommaruga, a senator from Geneva, maintains that UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation. He recalls that the UN created it to help refugees.

Sommaruga believes that UNRWA should not be sanctioned because of a few employees. He underlined the vital importance of the UN agency for the survival of Gaza residents. “Punishing UNRWA is above all punishing the population who are in need in Gaza, and there is no alternative,” he told RTS.

Pierre-André Page believes that there are other solutions to the humanitarian emergency, such as the Red Cross. But he insists on the need for strict controls. “There is a lot of carelessness everywhere. There is work needed by the Swiss federal government to control this financing abroad,” he declared.

‘Shocking’

A parliamentary committee will meet this week in Bern to investigate UNRWA funding.

On January 27, UNRWA boss, Philippe Lazzarini, issued a statement saying that he was shocked to learn about the freezing of funding by several donor countries.

He said: “It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation… UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival.”

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