The Provincial Committee of the Red Cross in Liège sent an email to all branches in Belgium ordering them to remove all crucifixes from their walls, to appear more secular.
André Rouffart, president of the Red Cross in Verviers, said: “We were asked to respect the principles of the Red Cross”, and not to distinguish between race or religious belief. Several volunteers spoke to Belgian broadcaster RTL to criticize the move, with one saying: “Let things remain as they are. We used to say ‘Christmas holidays,’ now it’s ‘winter holidays.’ The Christmas market in Brussels has become the ‘Winter Pleasures’.”
“For a certain part of the population - because of the Muslims - the crosses were removed in the Red Cross houses and, more particularly, in that of Verviers,” the volunteer added.