Abir Al-Sahlani
Member of the European Parliament · Renew · SE
“Madam President, let me first start with thanking you, dear Commissioner Lahbib, for your principled leadership and commitment to international humanitarian law. The humanitarian communication is a testimony of this leadership. Three hundred million people need humanitarian aid.”
“Still, it is their need and experiences that must shape our acts. My plea today is clear. Please, dear Commissioner, we need to urgently increase the funding to those – especially women-led organisations – who are the first responders when the catastrophe happens. 4-0025-0000”
“Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, I was asking myself what kind of a charade is this? Rebuilding Gaza, really? For 1 000 days, the Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring unimaginable suffering, and they have not even elected the despicable terrorist organisation Hamas, still, they are paying the price for this narrative…”
“We still just speak these big words while 73 000 Palestinians have been killed, children have lost their limbs in thousands and many of them have been operated on without anaesthesia. Somewhere there has to be a heart – even in you, even in you! Somewhere there has to be a heart. 3-0236-0000”
“Mr President, I just wanted to say that I have never felt as unsafe in this Parliament as after the vote about the Return Regulation, because the shouting of the far right was not against the political opponent, it was 'send them back'.”
“So what can the European Union do, in your view, in order to protect human rights in Iran? 2-0103-0000 Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew), blue-card answer. – A very good question. Thank you for this question.”
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“Är du medveten om det faktum att de allra flesta ungdomarna som nu är i de kriminella gängen är födda och uppvuxna i Sverige? De har gått i svensk förskola, de har gått i svensk skola. Hur kan du då göra kopplingen till invandringen? De är en svensk produkt, ingenting annat. Det är det svenska misslyckandet vi måste prata om, inte om migrationen. Jag är också en produkt av migrationen. Men här står jag, precis som du. Vad har skett? Vad är det som har skett då? 1-0112-0000”
“Det är skolan och det är vårt förebyggande arbete som kommer att avgöra om dessa gäng finns kvar i framtiden. Än så länge är de digitala plattformarna, där mycket av rekryteringen av dessa ungdomar sker, inte tvingade av lagen att ta bort innehåll som annonser där man rekryterar barn. Pratar man med tullen i Sverige så ser man ganska snabbt att de är underbemannade. De är i dag 200 personer. De skulle egentligen behöva vara 400 personer, och EU:s hamnallians har kritiserat Sverige just för detta underskott. Men i stället för att satsa mer på skolan och ge ungdomar ett alternativ, i stället för att satsa på att ha bättre tullarbete, mer personal och bättre maskiner, så har politiken kokats ner till en tävling i hårdare straff och hårdare tag mot invandrare. Migrationspolitiken är inte verktyget för att lösa gängvåldet.”
“The report they are referring to – is it the UNHCR 2025 Global Appeal, where they say that there is a rise of 106 % of forcibly displaced persons, or 60 million women, who are at high risk of being subject to gender inequality? We are just treating the symptoms. When you talk about harder punishment and not the root causes, we have to have a comprehensive approach to migration. We have to build more legal pathways to the EU. 3-0296-0000”
“Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, in 1991 I was fifteen years old, and my mother made the non-choice to send me with a smuggler to Europe because it was so expensive for us both to come to Europe. There were no legal pathways. She could not come here to work, though she has a master's degree in economics. My father was imprisoned in Abu Ghraib in Iraq for eleven years because he and my mum dared to question Saddam, dared to fight for freedom. That's why the entire family had a death sentence. These are the migrants who you want to punish, who you say are criminals. I hear Mr Leggeri and his friends calling for harder punishment. Yes, please do that, we all agree: harder punishment on the smugglers. But why punish the migrants? Why always calling them, putting them in the narrative of being criminals. It is not true.”
“Too long we have idly stood by while millions of people are displaced, thousands of them are killed. Just how much longer can we wait? The EU must show leadership! 2-0542-0000”
“Mr President, Mr Commissioner, dear colleagues, the ongoing violence in Sudan and senseless war has gripped the nation and its people by suffering, displacement and fear. The status quo for almost two years now has been that of utter devastation and no one is safe. People are slaughtered on a daily basis, facing famine on a daily basis, fleeing on a daily basis. Women, men, children, mutilated, raped and abused. But let's not be mistaken. This conflict is entirely manmade. On purpose. Further fuelled by outside influences due to greed and power politics, limited aid is entering. Because of that, our role as a European Union is to put pressure on regional powers for sustainable, long-lasting peace and provide necessary humanitarian aid. Too long we have been quiet, too long we have sought to withdraw our engagement from the region?”
“If it's peace and security Netanyahu and the Knesset want to build for the Israeli people, it is by stopping the ban on UNRWA. UNRWA is the only trusted and respected international organisation by the Palestinians, both in Gaza, the West Bank and the occupied territories. The needs of education for children and healthcare are overwhelming – it will take more than 350 years to rebuild Gaza. Netanyahu, you have 11 days to find a solution. And if the EU will do one thing right, it is to keep the pressure on Netanyahu to lift the ban on UNRWA. 1-0082-0000”
“Mr President, for 470 days, the laughter of the children on the streets of Gaza have been replaced by bombs. Netanyahu has mass murdered over 40 000 Palestinians, leading to an arrest warrant by the ICC. But now we have a ceasefire that is very much welcome, leading to silencing the weapons – loved ones, both hostages and detainees coming home to their families. This ceasefire must become a sustainable peace. Netanyahu and his extremist government must understand that if it's peace and security they want for the Israeli people, then they should not be bombing Palestinians or the neighbouring countries. If it's peace and security Netanyahu wants for the Israeli people, it is by fulfilling the human rights of the Palestinian people.”