A member of the Helmets Syrian white men, May 6, 2018 near al-Bab, heads for buses carrying rebel fighters and their families who have been evacuated from insurgent areas / AFP / Archives
Hundreds of white helmets, these first-aid workers the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 working in rebel areas in Syria, were evacuated via Israel to Jordan, in the face of the rise of government forces in the region.
This evacuation comes as the regime of Bachar al -Assad is on the point, with the help of his Russian ally, to take back from the rebels the last sectors that they still control in the south of Syria – especially in a region bordering the Golan part of Syria n occupied by Israel
On Saturday morning, the Israeli military radio reported that 800 Syrians, members of the White Helmets and their families had been evacuated to Israel and then transferred to Jordan, without specifying when the operation took place.
In Amman, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Kayed said "the government has authorized the United Nations to organize the pbadage of about 800 Syrian citizens through Jordan to that they are resettled in Western countries after a request (…) from Britain, Germany and Canada. "
Questioned by AFP, the head of the White Helmets, Raëd Saleh, confirmed that "a number of volunteers (White Helmets) had been evacuated with their families for purely humanitarian reasons while encircled in a region (…) of southern Syria, and they are now in Jordan" . [19659008] White Helmets, an organization of rescuers in a rebel zone, fight a fire after air strikes on the city of Idleb, March 24, 2017 in Syria / AFP / Archives ” clbad=”img-responsive”/>
White Helmets, a relief organization in rebel zone, fight against fire after air strikes on Idleb town, March 24, 2017 in Syria / AFP / Archives
White Helmets were surrounded in the provinces of Quneitra and Deraa, he said said, some of whom are stuck between the dividing line (between the Syrian and Israeli territories) on the Golan Heights and the regime's forces. They were in danger because of "repeated threats against them by Russia and the regime."
– "Humanitarian Operation" –
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), government forces now control 90% of the province of Quneitra, which borders the occupied part of the Golan, and 80% of that of Deraa, in favor of a military offensive launched on June 19 which resulted in particular negotiated capitulation agreements by Moscow.
White Helmets, an organization of rescuers in rebel zone, search for survivors after air strikes on the city of Duma, October 5, 2016 in Syria / AFP / Archives
The spokesman of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Twitt and the transfer of the White Helmets.
"At the request of the United States, Canada and European countries, Israel has completed a humanitarian operation to rescue members of a Syrian civilian organization (the White Helmets) and their families. . They were evacuated (…) to a neighboring country, "he said.
Questioned by AFP, he did not specify the number of people concerned, nor when this operation s
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the 800 Syrians would be accommodated in the kingdom for up to three months before being transferred to Britain, Germany and Canada.
Jordan agreed to accept them "for purely humanitarian reasons (…) because of the risk to their lives," he said, underlining Amman's commitment to fulfilling its humanitarian duty despite the burden of large numbers of Syrian refugees for the kingdom.
– "Bravery and altruism" –
Some 650,000 Syrian refugees have been registered with the United Nations in Jordan since the beginning of the war. war in their country in 2011, a conflict that has made t more than 350,000 dead and thrown on the roads millions of people. But Amman estimates their number at nearly 1.3 million.
In Ottawa, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that "Canada, in close cooperation with the United Kingdom and Germany, is conducting a an international effort to ensure the safety of White Helmets and their families. "
" Canada is a key partner of the White Helmets, and is proud to have provided funding to support their emergency training ( …) We feel a deep moral responsibility towards these people who show bravery and altruism. "
Volunteers, the White Helmets are out of anonymity thanks to poignant videos relayed on social networks, showing helmets on his head rushing to bombed locations to extract survivors, mostly children, buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by bombing by the regime or its Russian ally.
They insist on their neutrality and their non-affiliation with a political or armed group. But they are hated by the regime and Moscow, who accuse them of being linked to jihadist groups or of being puppets in the hands of foreign governments supporting the opposition.
