"I understand that they are worried, that their relatives are worried, and that they are frustrated," says Malmer Stenergard at a press conference.
Around 20,000 Swedes are estimated to live around the Persian Gulf and several thousand are in the region temporarily. There are no reports of Swedes being injured or killed in the ongoing war.
The government is also working to help Swedes in the region, including with a crisis team of three people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to handle consular issues. Today, two more consular officials are traveling to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for onward travel to Doha in Qatar.
Vacancies
Among other things, they will help secure seats on other countries' chartered planes. This weekend, Austria and Finland are planning to charter planes.
There are a number of vacancies, where Sweden will naturally be given priority, says Malmer Stenergard.
Priority will be given to people with a medical condition or small children. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified 840 people who are part of travel groups where there are children under the age of five, most of whom are in Dubai.
Is the government investigating the possibility of chartering planes?
"We are investigating all possibilities to help Swedes in need. We have also been in contact with the travel industry to look into that possibility," says Malmer Stenergard.
Closed airspace
But since airspace is largely closed, such a solution could mean having to travel by land to other countries, which could be dangerous.
It's constantly a balancing act to do what's best, she says.
Fourteen young Swedes who had been in Dubai have managed to get home on their own, with the help of their travel company.
However, a number of flights are expected to take off from the United Arab Emirates to Europe today. According to Malmer Stenergard, the authorities there are signaling that around 80 flights will take off "in the near future."
I am convinced that if you want to get a large number of people out, it will be fastest and easiest once commercial flights start operating, she says.
If conditions allow some form of intervention, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contact Swedes who have registered for the so-called Swedish list.
