sou · H2B327 · 2014-05-07 00:00:00 — Such a policy must cover all links in the chain, from the initiation of a mission to long after it has been completed. It must also encompass all those affected by the mission. One basic premiss in the work to shape proposals for a coordi- nated, well-developed veterans policy so that it also encompasses civilians who have served in different missions has been for this policy – as is currently the case for the Swedish Armed Forces' personnel – to be based on a socially holistic perspective that in- cludes dissemination of knowledge, recruitment of personnel, training and preparation prior to the mission, support and actions during the mission and subsequent support and follow-up, as well as rehabilitation of any individuals who may have been injured. The support provided to the family, especially children, is also an important part of this holistic perspective. Another basic premiss has been to assess – in a similar way as prior to the introduction of the veteran soldier policy – how society as a whole can contribute to the implementation of a coordinated, well-developed veterans policy. Accordingly, the basic premiss is that the governmental agency or organisation that is, from an over- all societal perspective, the most suitable for the task should be in charge of the initiative. If, as proposed by the commission of inquiry, a coordinated, well-developed veterans policy is to be implemented, the following measures should be taken in order to increase the support provided to all veterans – civilian and military alike – before, during and after an international mission. These suggestions are also based on experi- ence from the follow-up and evaluation of the veteran soldier policy implemented thus far. Follow-up and evaluation of the veteran soldier policy The commission of inquiry's follow-up and evaluation of the veteran soldier policy indicates that a predominate majority of the goals and interim goals set by the Riksdag and Government for this policy have been achieved. Veterans legislation has been introduced that covers all of the Swedish Armed Forces' personnel – both military and civilian – involved in international military interventions, a joint veterans' day for all civilian and military veterans has been established on 29 and a veterans' memorial has been erected at the Royal in . At the same time, the follow-up and evaluation indicate that there deficiencies and challenges remain in the implementation of the veteran soldier policy. The evaluation shows a lack of public awareness of international military interventions and the veterans policy, which has a negative impact on the chances of providing veterans with adequate support, follow-up and rehabilitation. Furthermore, the follow-up and evaluation indicated that there have been deficiencies in the Swedish Armed Forces' organisational structure and work to support and monitor veteran soldiers. The Swedish Armed Forces has also not conducted any large-scale collaboration exercises involving other participants for the event of major casualties in the mission area. There are also clear deficiencies in the collaboration between various governmental agencies, municipalities and county councils when it comes to the support and care provided to injured veterans. From the follow-up, it is clear that the Swedish Armed Forces still has no statistics on veterans, which makes it more difficult for this agency and others affected to learn how the health and living situations of veteran soldiers are progressing. The lack of statistics on veterans also makes research into the subject more difficult. All in all, the deficiencies stated affect society's likelihood of and ability to provide veterans and their families with sufficient gratitude for the sacrifices they have made for the Swedish people (the State) and the healthcare that injured veterans must receive and the support their families are entitled to. Consequently, the commission of inquiry proposes the follow- ing measures be taken in order to remedy the deficiencies and problems identified, and thus reinforce and improve the veterans policy. , through the Swedish Armed Forces and other organi- sations affected, should take action to increase public awareness of international military interventions and the veterans policy. The Swedish Armed Forces should make sure that its personnel receive the support needed before, during and after the mission. It should continuously evaluate its organisational structure and opera- tions to ensure that personnel with physical and psychological problems are identified and monitored, and given the support they need. It should also take action to ensure that injured veterans are provided with the required health and social care from those agen- cies responsible. This also includes measures that aim to improve the effectiveness of the collaboration between those affected, for example between authorities, municipalities, county councils and voluntary organisations for veterans and their families. Furthermore, the commission of inquiry suggests that the Swedish Armed Forces and the other public employers involved should keep official veteran statistics in order to learn more about the veterans' health and life situations, and to give researchers better data with which to investigate the subject of veterans. Proposed measures to improve the different parts of the veterans policy Knowledge about international missions and operations must improve It is of vital importance that there is widespread knowledge about the international missions in which participates in different areas. Increased knowledge about these operations is important for several reasons. Helping people in need in various parts of the world will come to be seen as a natural part of everyday Swedish life. The knowledge amongst society as a whole about these missions and operations, as well as about what they entail in terms of risks and stress for the personnel involved, must increase in order for a co- ordinated, well-developed veterans policy to achieve its full impact. Governmental authorities and other government agencies have a responsibility to contribute to ensuring this takes place. There will then be a better societal foundation from which to provide support to the veterans and their families. in-depth knowledge will also entail greater and more definitive support for overseas per- sonnel, not only in their day-to-day work, but also in the event of an incident and when, for example, undue criticism is directed at the mission or an individual. The commission of inquiry has come to the conclusion that a more widespread and in-depth knowledge amongst society about international missions and operations would contribute to im- proving understanding of these activities. Increasing the level of insight into the purposes and implementation of these activities will also increase the understanding of the reality in which the overseas personnel live and of what they have to overcome when they return home. When the purpose of various international missions and operations has been firmly established among the general public, they can become involved in and affected by those missions and operations in a positive way. The overseas personnel can then feel that they have the support necessary to complete their task. According to the commission of inquiry, these aspects are an important part of the coordinated veterans policy. Consequently, the commission of inquiry proposes a number of measures to increase the knowledge among society about inter- national missions and operations in which participates on the one hand, and about the veterans policy, its goals and imple- mentation on the other. Research has shown the importance of recruiting only those with the appropriate expertise and personal circumstances to serve as part of dangerous, complex international missions. Public employ- ers must continue to improve the quality of recruitment to inter- national missions, and ensure that new results from research and the past experience of other organisations and countries involved in this work are taken into account in the recruitment efforts. To reduce the risk of personnel suffering ill-health and to reduce the social stresses, all public employers should have guidelines that set out the mission frequency allowed for individual employees. These guidelines should be based on the results of research and the past experience of other organisations and countries. The public employer is responsible for ensuring that those who participate in international missions are appropriately prepared for those missions, that they receive the necessary support during those missions, and that they are taken care of afterwards. The same applies to emergency situations during the mission, and access to adequate healthcare in conjunction with accidents or acts of violence that their personnel are exposed to. The public employer must also ensure access to adequate healthcare in the field or evacua- tion of personnel in need of such care. Planning in the event of major casualties There must be an overall national plan in the event of major casual- ties resulting from an accident or another serious incident in the field and where regular national resources such as the Swedish Response Team are not sufficient to support the operation. Each individual public employer must also have a plan for dealing with such situations and conduct exercises using this plan. Responsibility for support and follow-up The support and follow-up provided by public employers must be reinforced. The public employer must – as is currently the case for the Swedish Armed Forces – provide support to those who have previously served in need of support as a result of their service, regardless of whether the person is still employed by the agency in question. The governmental agency must actively follow up on whether its employees have any physical or psychological problems resulting from their service. This follow-up must be an effort and include personal contact with employees subsequent to their service as part of an international mission, if this is not evidently unnecessary or impossible. The specific responsibility of the public employer to follow-up will apply for five years with regard to employees who have served as part of international missions or operations of a dangerous or stressful nature. The public employer will also be responsible for providing extra help or guidance to an individual veteran in particularly difficult cases that require extensive measures and resources. Thereafter, the agency will have a permanent, but more limited responsibility for follow-up. This means that the agency will provide support, when needed, to employees suffering from physical or psychological prob- lems after the stated five-year period has elapsed. Therefore, the responsibility to support employees who have been injured as a result of their service as part of an international mission or opera- tion has no time limit. The supportive measures will instead continue as long as they are required and the measures appear reasonable. At the same time, this proposal means that regular actors are not exempt from their responsibilities pursuant to, for example, the social security legislation. The proposed measures would mean that all veterans, civilian and military alike, receive the same support and follow-up before, during and after their service as part of an inter- national mission or operation. Family – support and compensation The employee's family also make sacrifices and take part in the international mission or operation. The whole family may need support when one member is serving in the field far away. The commission of inquiry proposes that the public employer must – as is currently the case for the Swedish Armed Forces – provide support in the form of information to the families those serving as part of an international mission or operation. Further- more, the public employer must have a coherent plan for its work with families in general. Specific compensation – similar to that pur- suant to the Act (2010:449) on Swedish Armed Forces Personnel in International Military Operations – will be payable to the families of such personnel. It will be possible, in special cases, to pay this type of compensation even if the employee has not been killed or injured severely enough to require hospitalisation. The commission of inquiry also suggests that there should be a contact person within the governmental agency to support and guide family members in various issues connected to the service. There- fore, support and assistance should be available, not only in the event that the employee is injured or killed, but also in certain other situations. The State's gratitude Participation in international missions or operations is an important instrument for 's security policy aim of contributing to peace, security and development. The State's gratitude to the civilian and military personnel who participate, and have participated, in international missions or operations, often in dangerous and stress- ful conditions, must be unequivocal. A monument has been erected in memory of all Swedish veterans at the Royal in , and 29 is already an annual day of remembrance for all Swedish veterans. The Swedish Armed Forces has a long tradition of awarding medals to personnel serving as part of international missions, and since 2011 there is a medal for individuals who have been injured while serving. The State's gratitude to civilian veterans who have served as part of international missions or operations is, to some extent, already expressed through the veterans' memorial and the veterans' day of 29 . However, the State's gratitude should go even further, and the public employers involved should consider the creation of a medal to reward personnel who have served as part of particularly dangerous or stressful international missions or operations, in the same way as the Swedish Armed Forces. These medals would, amongst other things, constitute recognition of the danger and the stress that personnel subject themselves to, and where the individual may come to pay a high personal price. Each public employer should individually set out more detailed regulations regarding their recog- nition of veterans. A veterans' church service should be held in the Royal Chapel in on the first Sunday of each year. A special veterans' march should be adopted and 29 declared an official Swedish flagday. The mission as a merit The proposed national veterans' authority and the public employers should strive to give service as part of international missions or operations more weight as merits, by disseminating information and knowledge about what work as part of an international mission or operation entails for the individual employee in terms of in- creased expertise and skills. Voluntary organisations, particularly veterans' and family organisations Voluntary organisations, veterans' and family organisations in par- ticular, have a special role to play in the work to support veterans and their families. For the individual it is often easier to turn to one of these organisations for help. The Swedish Armed Forces and other public employers should therefore continue to develop their collaboration with voluntary organisations, and also involve more such organisations in the work with veterans. Veteran statistics form the basis of knowledge concerning the devel- opment of veterans' health and living situations, and also support veteran research. Official veteran statistics are also available in many other countries. Official veteran statistics should therefore be introduced in . It is proposed that each public employer be responsible for these statistics and the proposed national veterans' authority would have the overall national responsibility for veteran statistics. A national veterans' agency To promote and develop veteran issues, a national veteran agency should be established. This national veterans' agency will, among other things, have an overall and coordinating responsibility for national veterans' issues, develop a national action plan for veterans' issues, work strategically with the coordination of veterans' issues that concern all the governmental agencies, be responsible for national knowledge development and dissemination of experience concerning veterans' issues, administer the combined official veteran statistics, have an advisory capacity and coordinate the work with veterans' and family issues between the agencies, municipalities, county councils and voluntary organisations affected, particularly veterans' and family organisations. The veteran's agency will also be able to provide information and guidance to other affected agencies, municipalities, county councils and voluntary organisations and, in special cases, to individual veterans and families. The agency should also have a commission-funded unit that can provide advice, support and guidance, and coordinate cases where the veteran has been severely injured and where there is a need for the national veteran's agency's particular expertise in veterans' issues. Many other countries have a lengthy experience of working with matters relating to veterans and their families. This experience from other countries should be taken advantage of to a greater extent. Nordic collaboration in veterans' and family issues should be devel- oped, which includes, amongst other things, considering the estab- lishment of a collaboration with the Norwegian veteran organisation in Bæreia and, in the long term, develop an equivalent organisation in . Furthermore, experience from the Danish model, in- volving a well-developed collaboration between the Danish Armed Forces and , should be utilised in developing Swedish veterans policy. A new law containing provisions for the civilian personnel of public employers in international missions etc. The commission of inquiry proposes the introduction of a new law concerning publicly-employed civilian personnel taking part in dangerous and stressful international missions and operations. This law contains provisions that essentially correspond to what is cur- rently valid according to the Act (2010:449) on Swedish Armed Forces Personnel in International Military Operations. This law would guarantee civilian government employees increased support and protection in conjunction with their service as part of danger- ous or stressful international missions or operations. The veterans policy is the collective responsibility of everyone in The proposed legislation and the other suggestions made by the commission of inquiry will develop the veterans policy into a coordi- nated national veterans policy that covers all veterans in , both civilian and military and affects society as a whole. The co- ordinated, well-developed veterans policy is thereby also the collec- tive responsibility of everyone in . lag (0000:00) om civil personal i internationella insatser, m.m. Härigenom föreskrivs följande. 1 § Denna lag ska tillämpas på anställda i en myndighet vid tjänst- i en internationell insats. Sådan myndighet benämns i denna lag för anställningsmyndighet. Denna lag ska tillämpas även på anställda i en myndighet vid tjänstgöring i internationell verksamhet som inte omfattas av första stycket om tjänstgöringen äger rum under riskfyllda eller påfrestan- de förhållanden i verksamhetsområdet (internationell verksamhet). På den som är internationellt eller lokalt anställd av anställnings- myndigheten i en insats enligt första stycket eller verksamhet enligt andra stycket får endast 12–14 §§ tillämpas. I lagen (2010:449) om Försvarsmaktens personal vid internation- ella militära insatser finns särskilda bestämmelser som gäller den myndighetens personal vid internationella militära insatser. 2 § I fråga om anställningsmyndighetens arbetsmiljöansvar i en internationell insats ska följande bestämmelser i arbetsmiljölagen (1977:1160) tillämpas i insats- eller verksamhetsområdet, om inte anställnings- eller tjänstgöringsförhållandena hindrar detta: –2 kap. 1–8 §§, –3 kap. 1–4 §§, § första och andra styckena samt 12 §, –6 kap. 1–6 §§, 6 a § första stycket första och andra meningarna och andra stycket samt 8 och 9 §§. 3 § ska utreda om personal som tjänstgjort i en internationell insats och som omfattas av denna lag har fått fysiska eller psykiska besvär till följd av tjänstgöringen i insats- eller verksamhetsområdet. Utredningen enligt första stycket ska ha den form och den om- fattning som motiveras av förhållandena under tjänstgöringen i insats- eller verksamhetsområdet ska innefatta person- lig kontakt, om detta inte kan anses uppenbart obehövligt eller inte kan genomföras. ansvar enligt första stycket kvarstår efter det att tjänstgöringen i insats- eller verksamhets- området avslutats. 4 § ska vid utredning enligt 3 § bistå den enskilde med information och vägledning. Detta gäller även som anges i 3 § tredje stycket. 5 § Om någon drabbas av fysiska eller psykiska besvär under tjänst- i insats- eller verksamhetsområdet eller vid resa till eller från sådan tjänstgöring ska anställningsmyndigheten i samråd med den skadade utreda behovet av och vid behov lämna stöd till den en- skilde för att bidra till att stärka dennes möjlighet att 1.återfå full arbetsförmåga, eller 2.försörja sig genom förvärvsarbete. ska ge den enskilde lämplig arbets- träning inom ramen för myndighetens verksamhet, om det är möj- ligt. Om besvären kan antas leda till bestående funktionshinder eller annars är av allvarlig art, ska myndigheten stödja och bistå den en- skilde så att hans eller hennes möjlighet att leva ett aktivt och själv- ständigt liv stärks. 6 § I de fall där besvär som avses i 5 § första stycket föranleder behov av tillgång till lämplig yrkesutbildning eller fortbildning för den enskilde i syfte att stärka dennes förvärvsförmåga, ska anställ- ningsmyndigheten ge ekonomiskt stöd till sådan utbildning eller utbildning som förlängs till följd av besvären. ska också ge ekonomiskt stöd till andra åtgärder som främjar den enskildes återgång till arbetslivet samt till anskaffande av hjälpmedel som han eller hon behöver. 7 § Stöd enligt 5 § första stycket och 6 § ska ges endast om det inte ska tillhandahållas av någon annan till följd av andra bestämmelser och i den utsträckning som det framstår som skäligt med hänsyn till besvären samt omständigheterna i övrigt. 8 § Vid fullgörandet av de uppgifter som avses i 5 och 6 §§ ska anställningsmyndigheten samarbeta med andra berörda myndigheter och organisationer. 9 § ansvar enligt 5 och 6 §§ innebär ingen inskränkning i det ansvar som den skadades arbetsgivare har enligt 3 kap. 2 a § och 3 § andra stycket arbetsmiljölagen (1977:1160) samt 30 kap. socialförsäkringsbalken. Om en annan arbetsgivare har vidtagit stödåtgärder ska anställ- ningsmyndighetens stödåtgärder enligt 5 och 6 §§ samordnas med dessa. 10 § ska tillhandahålla stöd i form av infor- mation till anhöriga till anställda som tjänstgör i en internationell insats eller internationell verksamhet. Myndigheten ska vidare ha en sammanhållen planering för sitt arbete med anhöriga i sin helhet. 11 § Om den som tjänstgör i en internationell insats eller inter- nationell verksamhet skadas så att han eller hon behöver sjukhus- vård eller förolyckas, ska anställningsmyndigheten efter ansökan av den anhörige ersätta denne för skäligt antal resor till den skadade eller förolyckade samt uppehälle och tidsspillan vid sådan resa på samma grunder som gäller i fråga om ersättning av allmänna medel till vittnen. I fall som avses i första stycket ska anställningsmyndigheten efter ansökan ge skäligt bidrag till kostnader för psykosocialt stöd till anhöriga som är i behov av det om det framstår som skäligt med hänsyn till omständigheterna i övrigt.