Swiss UNRWA Funding Given Temporary Reprieve

2025-03-23 08:02:49

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The Swiss Senate has rejected an immediate halt of payments to the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This content was published on March 18, 2025 - 13:53 2 minutes Keystone-SDA

Deutsch de Ständerat will Schweizer UNRWA-Beiträge nicht per sofort einstellen Original Read more: Ständerat will Schweizer UNRWA-Beiträge nicht per sofort einstelle
العربية ar مجلس الشيوخ السويسري يرفض تعليق المدفوعات إلى الأونروا Read more: مجلس الشيوخ السويسري يرفض تعليق المدفوعات إلى الأونرو

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On Tuesday, lawmakers rejected a motion from the Swiss People's Party demanding an immediate suspension of funding. The government has been tasked with finding an alternative solution.

+ Parliament threatens halt to UNRWA funding

The Senate voted against the motion by 25 votes to 19 with one abstention. The motion also sought to ensure that the UN aid organisation receives no further financial contributions in future. This proposal is now off the table.

Instead, parliament referred another motion to the Federal Council. According to this motion, Switzerland should lobby the UN for a successor solution for UNRWA.

+ Read more about the allegations against UNRWA in Gaza

The Federal Council must examine alternatives – for example, whether Palestinian aid could be integrated into the UN refugee relief organisation UNHCR.

Translated from German with DeepL/mga

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