Red Cross leaders demand action as aid worker deaths mount

New Straits Times

08-05-2025

RED CROSS LEADERS DEMAND ACTION AS AID WORKER DEATHS MOUNT
KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) – As the world marks World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on May 8, two prominent Red Cross organisations have issued a powerful statement condemning the tragic killing of humanitarian workers and calling for urgent international action to end the escalating brutality.
"This World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, we mourn our colleagues who were appallingly killed while trying to save lives.
"Their deaths demand far more than empty words of outrage - they demand action," said International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) president Kate Forbes and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, in a joint statement issued from Geneva, Thursday.
They said the international community cannot continue to look away as the rules of war are ignored and humanitarian workers are deliberately targeted.
"Every attack on a humanitarian worker is an attack on the community they served and a betrayal of the laws designed to protect civilians and alleviate suffering in conflict," they said.
They added that the brutal killing of health workers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society in March sparked a global outcry.
"But their story is not isolated.
"From Gaza to Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and beyond, our colleagues are coming under fire while driving ambulances, distributing aid, and reaching frontline communities in need," they said.
Their appeal comes as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement mourns the loss of 10 colleagues in 2025 to date.
This follows what has already been recorded as the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel, with 38 staff and volunteers killed in 2024.
"If this horrifying pattern continues, 2025 may be even worse," they said, painting a grim picture of conditions plaguing frontline workers.
They said states and parties to conflict bear direct responsibility for reversing the disturbing and dangerous trend by protecting humanitarian workers, upholding international humanitarian law, and standing up for our shared humanity.
"The time to act is now," they urged.
–BERNAMA