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Red Cross suspends Belarus branch over children
Summary
A look back at the Belarus Red Cross suspension, announced on 1 December 2023, and a Polish offer of advisers to the Finnish border.
What happened to the Belarus Red Cross as 2 December 2023 approached? The International Committee of the Red Cross had suspended the national society on 1 December 2023, after its Secretary General, Dzmitry Shautsou, refused to resign.
The dispute centred on statements that the organisation had been involved in bringing Ukrainian children to Belarus for what was described as health improvement. The suspension came under the heading of child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and it followed Shautsou's refusal to step down over those statements.
A separate security signal in the north
A few days earlier, on 29 November 2023, the head of Poland's National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, announced that Poland would send a team of military advisers to the Finland–Russia border. He presented the move as a response to an official request for allied support. Finland said it was unaware of the Polish offer. Russia warned against the step and said it viewed a concentration of troops on the border as a threat.
Prisoner releases elsewhere
Also on 29 November 2023, under the Israel–Hamas ceasefire, Hamas released four Thai migrant workers and 12 Israeli hostages, while Israel freed 30 Palestinian prisoners. In a separate gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hamas also freed two dual citizens of Israel and Russia.
