Red Cross shuts offices in Niger, withdraws staff at government's request

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday confirmed the closure of its offices in Niger and the withdrawal of its expatriate staff following a request by the country's authorities.

In a statement, the Geneva-based humanitarian organization emphasized its commitment to neutrality and dialogue.

"At the request of the authorities, we have closed our offices and withdrawn our expatriate staff," the ICRC said on X, adding that it remains open to discussion. "We reiterate our readiness to maintain a constructive dialogue to resume our strictly humanitarian activities."

Patrick Youssef, the ICRC's regional director for Africa, for his part, underlined the scale of the organization's work in Niger over the past year.

"In 2024, we provided neutral, independent, and impartial humanitarian aid to nearly 2 million people in the country," Youssef said.

He stressed that maintaining dialogue with all parties to a conflict is essential to the ICRC's humanitarian operations. "We recall that dialogue with all parties to the conflict is the ICRC’s standard approach to carrying out its strictly humanitarian mandate."

Youssef also rejected any suggestion that the ICRC supports armed actors. "The ICRC never provides financial, logistical, or any other form of support to parties to the conflict," he said.

The organization reaffirmed its willingness to continue engaging with the Nigerien authorities to resume its protection and assistance programs.