Admission of injured children from Gaza into Hamburg hospitals

• When children are affected by armed conflicts, State are obliged under International Humanitarian Law, to undertake “all feasible measures to ensure protection and care” for the children, to ensure that the children “do not take a direct part in hostilities” (Art. 38 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; Geneva Conventions) – which the parties are not fulfilling right now. The legal basis is constituted by section 22, sentence 2 German Federal Residence Act (AufenthG): admission is possible for urgent humanitarian reasons, also if initiated by municipalities or federal states. Section 23(1) of the German Federal Residence Act: state admission programs of the federal states in coordination with the federal government.
• The urgency to act is enormous: Surgeries are often done without anaesthesia or pain medication. Many of the children are weakened due to famine and days without food. Gaza's medical infrastructure is vastly destroyed. The lack of medical care can lead to lifelong impairments and death.
• Germany has experience in medically evacuating injured children (e.g. Yazidi children). 2 children from Gaza have already been treated in Germany.
• Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Norway have already admitted children for treatment.
• Hanover, Kiel, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Leipzig and Bremen as well as Hamburg and Freiburg have already advocated for the admission of injured children from Gaza and called on the federal government to take appropriate action.

With its world-class hospitals, Hamburg offers highly specialized treatment options. Hamburg, with its excellent medical infrastructure, has the necessary capacity to provide help and has already expressed its willingness in the past to take in injured children. Unfortunately, the initiative has so far failed due to rejection by the German federal government.

What is needed now is the voice of the public — together with that of residents in many other German cities — to demonstrate the will of the people on a broad basis.