Asked by Baroness Sheehan To ask Her Majesty’s
Government what assessment they have made of the impact of back to
back transfers between ambulances at checkpoints on the health of
Palestinians seeking to access emergency care in East Jerusalem
hospitals. The Minister of State, Department for...Request free trial
Asked by
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The Minister of State, Department for International
Development (Lord Bates) (Con)
My Lords, the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported in
2015 that 84% of transfers from West Bank to East Jerusalem
hospitals underwent back-to-back transfers. The UK has
consistently called on the Israeli Government to ease
restrictions that reduce access to medical care for
Palestinians.
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(LD)
I thank the Minister for his reply. A number of noble Lords
have asked me about back-to-back ambulance transfers.
Basically, when somebody in the West Bank is critically
ill—it is an emergency case—there are no tertiary hospitals
in the West Bank and the referral is made to one in East
Jerusalem, which is on the other side of the barrier. So
the person will get into an ambulance in the West Bank but
then be made to get out at the checkpoint and either be
wheeled or have to walk through, regardless of whether he
is having a heart attack or she is in a difficult labour.
They will then have, on average, a 27-minute wait at the
checkpoint, before transferring to an ambulance on the
Israeli side to be taken, finally, to the hospital. This is
an enormous barrier to the coexistence funding programme
that DfID has announced to ensure better outcomes for
Palestinians needing emergency care. Will the Minister
confirm that he will make the strongest possible
representations to his counterparts?
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We will certainly continue to make our representations.
More importantly, we fund the UN Access Coordination Unit,
which helps in this area. We agree that the waiting times
are unacceptable. Of course, the long-term solution lies in
the resumption of peace talks.
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(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that the
first responsibility of a Government is to protect their
citizens? Sadly, ambulances have been used by terrorists a
number of times in the region. As we understand only too
well, difficult decisions have to be made. Is my noble
friend also aware that in 2015 more than 190,000
Palestinians entered Israel from the West Bank to receive
medical treatment in Israeli hospitals?
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That latter point is well worth underscoring, but it does
not take away from the distress that is caused to people
who have to transfer from ambulance to ambulance at the
border, with these three distinct medical areas: the West
Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. We think there is a way
forward. If the same spirit that has been shown in the
offer of medical services by the State of Israel could be
addressed to this issue, I am sure that a way could be
found.
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(CB)
Does the Minister agree with me that Israel deserves praise
for organising a system of volunteers who help the injured
people in the ambulances get to Israeli hospitals?
Moreover, those hospitals are treating thousands of injured
Syrians. They deserve praise for ensuring that there is a
safe haven at least somewhere in the Middle East for
wounded Syrians.
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A tremendous amount of work is going on with Syrians, not
least that which DfID is supporting through its work with
the UNRWA. We support 22 clinics which are providing
essential medical treatment. This situation, in any
circumstance, cannot be justified, but it needs to be
resolved in a peaceful, constructive way which recognises
the legitimate security concerns of the State of Israel.
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(Lab)
Of course it is distressing and the people of the West Bank
and Gaza deserve the very best medical treatment, but will
the Minister confirm the point that has already been
made—that on many occasions in the recent past, ambulances
have been used to convey terrorists and explosives for use
in Israel?
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We recognise that and of course we acknowledge the absolute
right of the State of Israel to defend itself against
terrorist attacks. We believe that with good will on both
sides, it will be possible to come to a situation where
innocent patients are not ending up as the victims of
terrorist activities being perpetrated in Gaza or
elsewhere.
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The Lord
My Lords, we have heard how the people of the Occupied
Territories continue to face challenges accessing emergency
care. The diocese of Jerusalem provides hospitals and
health centres across this area, but many of the vital
facilities and services are not fully operational because
the equipment cannot be calibrated and staff lack
accreditation. What conversations have Her Majesty’s
Government had with the Israeli Government to facilitate
the necessary inspections to ensure that these and similar
facilities become operational and therefore reduce the
reliance of Palestinian people on reaching hospitals in
East Jerusalem?
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We tend to raise these issues whenever we meet officials.
My colleague was in the Occupied
Territories last weekend. It is a constant issue that we
raise with them. We think there are legitimate concerns
about the use of some materials, but we believe that there
is a way forward on this to make sure that innocent people
do not suffer.
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(Lab)
My Lords, DfID provides substantial budget support to the
Palestinian Authority. Picking up the point made by the
right reverend Prelate, when giving that budget support,
how much pressure does DfID put on the Palestinian
Authority to ensure that money is spent properly on medical
care and hospitals?
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The noble Lord makes a valid point. The Secretary of State
has taken a leading role in this by changing the way in
which we do that. The £25 million that we provide to the
Palestinian Authority now needs to go to vetted individuals
for specific programmes that have been announced. We work
with our EU partners through the PEGASE arrangement to
ensure that it ends up in the right hands, but more could
be done, and I am happy to undertake to make those
representations to ensure that it happens.
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(LD)
In situations like this Palestinian, Israeli and
international non-governmental organisations play a very
important role. Is DfID satisfied that the Israeli Government
make life sufficiently easy for non-governmental
organisations to play a role in assisting Palestinian
healthcare and other areas like that?
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We would like to see more. We do not think that the NGO Bill
which is currently before the Knesset goes down that route.
We think we need to do more.
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