Sweden Cuts Islamic Relief Funding to Zero
20th January 2026
Sweden has officially stopped all taxpayer-funded grants to the aid organization Islamic Relief Sweden (IRS) following concerns that individuals within the group may have links to anti-democratic or violent activities. Over the past decade, the organization had received nearly 1.3 billion kronor (€121.2?million) from Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
In 2024 alone, IRS received 191 million kronor (€17.8?million), which accounted for almost 70% of its total revenue from public funds and private fundraising.
Sida confirmed that the organization does not meet the criteria ensuring there are no ties to violent extremism or anti-democratic behavior. “Since the government’s guidance clearly states that such connections are not compatible with support under these strategies, Islamic Relief Sweden has had its applications rejected within the framework of the partner selection processes for the CSO and HUM strategies,” explained Inga-Lill Hagberg, press secretary at Sida.
The suspected links were identified in a review by the Centre Against Violent Extremism (CVE), which found that individuals connected to IRS or its networks had or previously had connections to “violent extremism or anti-democratic environments,” including links to the United Islamic Associations in Sweden (FIFS) and the Islamic Association in Sweden (IFIS). Some of these links were through relatives.
Non-Muslims see aid to Muslims as charity granted to poorer and more backward people.
Muslims see non-Muslim aid to Muslims as a form of jizyah, the tax that non-Muslims pay to Muslims in the Dar al-Islam, testifying to their inferior status. They don’t see it as charity for which they ought to be grateful; they see it as their right, mandated by God.
As Kipling correctly noted, “Once you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.”