Ukrainians call for Red Cross boycott

Natalia Bushkovska, 26 March 26 2022

Ukrainians are urging people to stop supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with donations to the organisation.

Such appeals have begun to be heard due to a number of events.

First of all, the ICRC has not helped in the organisation of humanitarian corridors.

Furthermore, the Red Cross continues to call the war between Russia and Ukraine a "conflict." But there is more beyond the Red Cross’s humanitarian corridor failure and their misnaming of the war.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also wants to open an office in Rostov-on-Don, ostensibly to help Ukrainians in Russian-controlled territory.

Transparency International Ukraine emphasises that the creation of such offices in Russia is a form of legalisation of the deportation of Ukrainians who Russia is forcibly deporting to its territory.

A photo of the President of the ICRC shaking hands with Sergey Lavrov has already gone viral on social networks.

Journalist and media coach Nina Kuriata called for signatures on a petition directed at the President of the ICRC, requesting an intensification of its activities in Ukraine.

"Hey brothers and sisters, let’s sign a petition to the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Recently, for example, he shook hands with Lavrov and promised to create centres for Ukrainian refugees in Rostov-on-Don. It was in the news. But isn’t it problematic that Ukrainians are basically kidnapped to Russian territory? 

And before that, they pass through the "filtration camps" in the unrecognised enclaves of the ‘LDNR’. Well, you also see the situation with the lack of functioning humanitarian corridors and non-interference of the ICRC," Nina Kuriata wrote.

A link to the petition can be found here.

A Ukrainian member of parliament Dmytro Hurin called the International Committee of the Red Cross Russian "collaborators":

"The International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine are collaborators:

They spend the money raised on themselves, not on statutory tasks. They did close to nothing to open humanitarian corridors. They are now opening a deportation support centre in Rostov-on-Don.

The founder of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, would be ashamed of what is happening.

The Red Cross should be banned from working in Ukraine at least until the end of the war, and a recommendation should be made on behalf of Ukraine to donate to other humanitarian organisations.

Red Cross President Peter Maurer must resign."

Head of the State Enterprise of Medical Procurement of Ukraine Arsen Zhumadilov noted that what used to be known to few is becoming known to the general public:

"The other day there was outrage on Facebook about the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This war forces everyone to lose masks. What used to be known to the few is becoming known to the general public. 

International organisations are not sacred cows. Their moral compasses have long since gone astray.

The benefits of their work do not always outweigh the harms. The added value of their efforts is questionable.

 The ability to accept money from governments of different countries and redistribute it, minus the maintenance, does not constitute added value."

Dana Yurovych, a reform expert, compares the Red Cross to shit:

"What is a synonym for the word shit? That's right, the Red Cross.

They say a lot about how much they value human lives and health on all sides of the ‘conflict’, but this is rubbish.

To negotiate with the terrorists and resettle people as hostages is the highest degree of disgrace and humanitarian crime.

The Hague is crying for you, you Samaritan devils."

A blogger Ivan Marunych was concise and simply showed who should be the head of the Red Cross office in Rostov.

It is important to note that the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (the Red Cross of Ukraine) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are different organisations.

The Ukrainian Red Cross Society notes this on its official Facebook page:

"The Red Cross of Ukraine has an exclusively national mandate – it works only in the territory of Ukraine.

The ICRC has an international mandate, acting as a neutral and impartial mediator between all parties to the armed conflict to resolve humanitarian issues.

Therefore, we would like to emphasise that the Ukrainian Red Cross has nothing to do with the ICRC's official visit to the Russian Federation, it has nothing to do with the opening of offices or humanitarian centres in Rostov-on-Don."