Around twenty former Swiss secretaries of state, ambassadors and Middle East specialists call in a letter on the Council of States not to stop Switzerland’s financing of the UN aid agency to Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). They point out that no Swiss NGO has the possibility, the means, or the expertise to replace it.
Rumors and baseless interpretations
The decision of the National Council “was taken for political considerations, fueled by rumors based on unfounded interpretations and not on facts and on the reality of the human suffering of a battered population”, write the signatories of the letter, including the former Secretary of State Jacques de Watteville and the former prosecutor of the Confederation Carla del Ponte.
It is particularly false to assert that UNRWA is the ally of Hamas, continues the missive, which Le Temps and Blick reported on Thursday. A UN investigation from last April concluded “that Israel did not transmit any proof of the involvement of UN employees in the attacks of October 7, 2023 against Israeli civilians”. A UN administrative investigation, however, admitted that a link was possible in nine cases.
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Several countries have resumed their financing
Following this report, Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada and Great Britain resumed funding. Currently, the disastrous health and food situation of the 2.2 million inhabitants of Gaza requires urgent aid that only UNRWA is able to provide, argues the Humanitarian Ethics and Health Observatory founded by the former president of Médecins du World Switzerland Nago Humbert, at the origin of the letter.
On September 9, the National Council supported by 99 votes to 88 and 7 abstentions a proposal from the UDC wanting to cut funding to UNRWA, against the advice of the competent commission and the Federal Council. The latter had already released funding of 10 million francs for the agency, instead of the 20 million initially planned for 2024. Senators must consider the subject on October 24.
