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Red Cross suspends Belarus branch over Ukrainian children
Summary
A look back at 1 December 2023, when the international Red Cross movement took action against its Belarus affiliate, and at the security developments around it.
What happened on 1 December 2023 when the International Committee of the Red Cross suspended the Belarus Red Cross? The suspension followed the refusal of the organisation's Secretary General, Dzmitry Shautsou, to resign. He had made statements that the Belarus Red Cross was involved in bringing Ukrainian children to Belarus for what was described as health improvement purposes.
The case sat within the wider issue of child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the suspension was the step taken after Shautsou declined to step down.
Poland and Finland's border
Security attention in the region in the preceding days had also turned to Finland's frontier with Russia. On 29 November 2023, Jacek Siewiera, chief of Poland's National Security Bureau, announced that Poland would send a team of military advisors to the Finland–Russia border in response to an official request for allied support. Finland said it was unaware of the Polish offer. Russia warned against the move and said it viewed a concentration of troops on the border as a threat.
Hostage releases in the Middle East
On the same 29 November, during 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.
