Week 14: Debaters critical of aid being used for refugee reception

The leadership continues to be largely dominated by political consequences stemming from Russia's war against Ukraine. But now voices are also beginning to be raised about Swedish development assistance and the need to also focus on other humanitarian issues.

According to reports of mass murder in the Ukrainian city of Butja mean Expressen's editorial staff that Sweden must increase its arms support to Ukraine to stop Russia's invasion. SSU members with responsibility for climate issues proposes instead to subsidize non-fossil fuels. This is so that subsidizing fossil fuels could generate greater revenue for Russia. Sweden needs to ensure that subsidies do not lead to increased economic opportunities for Putin to continue the war in Ukraine, they say.

At the same time as Sweden's impact on Russia's economic ability to wage war against Ukraine has been debated on the leaders' pages, Aftonbladet's writer highlights Zina Al-Dewany another perspective. She writes that Sweden has contributed to Russia's military capability through exports from Swedish industries to Russia's nuclear weapons program. She also mentions how Sweden annually gives Yemen SEK 433 million in aid, at the same time as we export weapons worth SEK 13 billion to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which carry out bombings in Yemen.

Redistribution of Swedish development assistance and forgotten conflicts

Several Swedish aid organizations are upset over the fact that the government has decided that money from the development assistance budget will go to Sweden's refugee reception center. Also Anders Pedersen, head of the Swedish Red Cross' international department, believes that Swedish aid must go to securing all international crises - such as the increased famine in Yemen or the conflict in Tigray. Swedish development assistance is needed to reduce possible security policy consequences in crises such as these.

Amineh Kakabaveh, Independent Socialist Member of Parliament, criticizes the Riksdag and the government's silence around girls and women's continued deteriorating life situation under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

- DIt is often said that the Swedish media cannot cope with more than one conflict at a time. But for the Riksdag and the government, other rules must apply, she writes in Dagens ETC.

Even the author Folke Schimanski writes that he lacks a more global view of ongoing conflicts right now. He notes that media reporting is increasingly centered around Europe.

- Ukrainian refugees are helped by the European Refugee Directive. But have not also Syrian children and women been subjected to bomb attacks, has not Mariupol been preceded by Aleppo ?, he writes in Dagens ETC.