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Foreign ministry to evacuate Swedes from Israel and Palestine

The Swedish government is going to evacuate Swedish citizens and non-Swedes living in Sweden from Israel and Palestine by plane from the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

Published: 11 October 2023 09:43 CEST
Foreign ministry to evacuate Swedes from Israel and Palestine
An Israeli soldier walks through a destroyed house in kibbutz Kfar Azza on Tuesday. Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg

“We have followed the situation in Israel and Palestine on an hour-by-hour basis, along with the other Nordic countries,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said. “The government has during this time planned for different scenarios and prepared accordingly.”

“Last night, plans were made to carry out an assisted departure from the country, in collaboration with other countries.”

The foreign ministry estimate that there are around 4,000 people with links to Sweden in Israel, and around 800 in Palestinian areas affected by the conflict.

Foreign ministry press spokesperson Helena Zimmerdahl-Torgerson confirmed to The Local that evacuation will be available for Swedish citizens, as well as non-Swedes living in Sweden with valid residency permits or right of residence in Sweden.

Evacuation flights will leave from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, with no details yet on when they will depart.

The number who can be evacuated also depends on how much interest there is from people in the area, who are encouraged to sign up for the so-called “Swedish list” – where Swedish citizens can notify the foreign ministry they’re abroad – after which they will be contacted accordingly.

Evacuees will need to make their own way to the airport.

Many airlines have announced cancellations to standard flights from Israel over the past few days, with many people in the conflict zone experiencing difficulties leaving the country.

“This is a precaution to help Swedes who want to leave but have had difficulty booking commercial flights out of Israel,” Billström said.

“Flights are open for Swedes in Israel and Palestine. All Swedes will be responsible for their own journeys to the airport from their current location.”

Denmark and Norway also announced evacuation plans for citizens in affected areas on Wednesday morning.

As recently as Monday, Billström told TT that the government was not planning to initiate evacuation flights, but that it was monitoring the situation carefully and preparing for different scenarios.

Other countries such as Spain, Poland, Mexico and Hungary have already initiated evacuation flights for their citizens.

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POLITICS

‘Very little debate’ on consequences of Sweden’s crime and migration clampdown

Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:56 CEST
'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast. 

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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