DistantNews
Support us
Red Cross denounces growing disinformation campaigns against humanitarian workers
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

Red Cross denounces growing disinformation campaigns against humanitarian workers

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Context piece
  • The International Red Cross movement is denouncing increasing disinformation campaigns targeting humanitarian workers.
  • The organization reported 36 aid workers killed violently in 2025 and 2026, highlighting the dangers they face.
  • The Red Cross emphasizes that dehumanizing rhetoric can escalate risks and calls for ensuring workers' safety rather than expecting greater bravery.

The International Red Cross movement is sounding the alarm over a surge in disinformation campaigns aimed at demonizing humanitarian aid workers. On World Humanitarian Day, the organization marked the violent deaths of 36 aid workers in 2025 and 2026, underscoring the perilous nature of their work.

The discourses that dehumanize humanitarian workers or question the impartiality of assistance (...) can make an already dangerous job even more dangerous.

— International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesIn a joint statement on World Humanitarian Day.

In a joint statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that rhetoric which dehumanizes aid workers or questions the impartiality of assistance significantly amplifies the dangers they face. These disinformation campaigns, they stated, do not remain confined to the internet but translate into tangible risks and increased hostility toward teams delivering essential aid.

Disinformation campaigns deliberately targeting humanitarian workers do not just stay on the internet; they can have real consequences in the form of increased danger and more hostility towards our teams as they carry out their work.

— International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesHighlighting the real-world impact of online disinformation.

The Federation and Committee stressed that the escalating attacks against humanitarian personnel cannot become normalized. They reported the loss of 24 workers and volunteers in 2025 and 12 more in the current year. The organizations assert that the solution lies not in asking colleagues to be braver, but in creating an environment where they can perform their duties safely.

The response cannot be to ask our colleagues to be braver, but to make it possible for them to do their work safely.

— International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesStating the need for improved safety measures for aid workers.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog