Sweden Resumes Payments to UNRWA

Displaced Palestinians at Rafah refugee camp, near the border with Egypt, southern Gaza Strip, 29 February 2024. (EPA)

09:07-9 March 2024 AD ـ 29 Sha’ban 1445 AH

Sweden Resumes Payments to UNRWA

Displaced Palestinians at Rafah refugee camp, near the border with Egypt, southern Gaza Strip, 29 February 2024. (EPA)

Sweden said on Saturday it would resume suspended payments to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), with a grant of 200 million crowns ($20 million).

Several countries, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to UNRWA after accusations by Israel that a dozen of the agency's 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The Swedish government said it had resumed payments after UNRWA agreed to strengthen internal controls and to extra checks on its employees, among other measures.

EU Could Lift Some Syria Sanctions Quickly

FILED - 30 September 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a press conference at the Pine Residence, the official residence of the French ambassador to Lebanon. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa

Asharq Al Awsat

09:39-8 January 2025 AD ـ 09 Rajab 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

09:39-8 January 2025 AD ـ 09 Rajab 1446 AH

EU Could Lift Some Syria Sanctions Quickly

European Union sanctions in Syria that obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid and hinder the country's recovery could be lifted swiftly, France's foreign minister said Wednesday.
The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule to try to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
Speaking to France Inter radio, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the EU could take a similar decision soon without giving precise timing, while adding that lifting more political sanctions would depend on how Syria's new leadership handled the transition and ensured exclusivity.
"There are other (sanctions), which today hinder access to humanitarian aid, which hinder the recovery of the country. These could be lifted quickly," said Barrot, who met Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday with Germany's foreign minister.
"Finally, there are other sanctions, which we are discussing with our European partners, which could be lifted, but obviously depending on the pace at which our expectations for Syria regarding women and security are taken into account."
Three European diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said the EU would seek to agree to lift some sanctions by the time the bloc's 27 foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Jan. 27.
Two of the diplomats said one aim was to facilitate financial transactions to allow funds to return to the country, ease air transport and lessen sanctions targeting the energy sector to improve power supplies.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available two or three hours per day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims to provide electricity for up to eight hours per day within two months.
The US waivers allow some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7, but do not remove any sanctions.

Sweden Resumes Payments to UNRWA

Sweden Resumes Payments to UNRWA

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EU Could Lift Some Syria Sanctions Quickly

EU Could Lift Some Syria Sanctions Quickly

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