Sweden has decided to terminate its support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Their aid to Gaza will henceforth be channeled through the country’s development cooperation agency, Sida. Additionally, support will be provided via the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
This decision is likely a consequence of the fact that UNRWA’s operations have proven to support terrorism and are riddled with corruption. Therefore, the entire organization should be dismantled, or at the very least, all Western countries should follow Sweden’s example and cease financial support.
Finland, however, has resumed its support for UNRWA after a brief hiatus. According to the responsible minister, Ville Tavio (Finns Party), ten percent of the granted aid must be allocated to combating misuse of funds.
Everyone should ask themselves whether this is a sustainable use of emergency aid funded by taxpayers. Or would it be better to halt all payments and redirect the funds to organizations that understand on their own that grants are not intended for corruption?
As for my stance, I declare that there is no reason to assist Palestinians through UNRWA or by any other means until it is guaranteed that the aid reaches its intended purpose. And the responsibility for demonstrating this does not lie with the donor but with the recipient.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Two out of three Palestinians support October 7 attack
United Nations, corruption and terrorism
Change of immigration policy and development cooperation
Giving one cent of money to UNWRA is a bad idea. After Finland gets a balance budget without foreign debt can we reconsider.
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