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Israeli Defense Forces soldiers on Sunday, July 22, 2018, monitor members of the White Helmets family on the buses that took them safely to Jordan.
The Associated Press
The operation that saved more than 400 people – members of the famous Syrian white helmets and their families – began with a meeting in Istanbul between Raed Salah, one of the group leaders, and a Canadian diplomat who persuaded his government to mobilize a rescue effort before it was too late.
At this meeting, at the end of June, Mr. Salah made an extraordinary appeal to Robin Wettlaufer, Canada's special envoy to Syria, based in Istanbul. The forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad will soon resume southwestern Syria held by the rebels, he said. And while surrender agreements were negotiated to allow some rebels and civilians to leave, no truce was offered to anyone in the area who had worked with the White Helmets, a group of Syrian volunteers who help the victims afterwards. attacks.
Helmets received money from Canada and other Western governments throughout his efforts to save as many people as possible from the ravages of the Syrian civil war, shooting dead and wounded rubble destroyed by Mr. al-Assad and his Russian Allies They were also the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary that described the rescuers as one of the few heroes of the macabre conflict in Syria
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But now, Mr. Salah and his group needed more substantial badistance. . He told Wettlaufer that Canada and its allies needed to help some 800 people – members of the White Helmets and their families – to leave southern Syria as soon as possible. Otherwise, the volunteers would be tortured, and possibly worse, by the regime.
What happened next was a triumph of Canadian diplomacy behind the scenes, competing only with the "Canadian cape", in which L & B personnel Embbady in Tehran helped six US diplomats escape capture during the first weeks after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and eventually fled.
Canada is now hailed for its leadership in the rescue operation of Mr. al-Assad's white helmets. The details of what happened are reported on Tuesday for the first time by The Globe and Mail – and sources say that much of the credit belongs to Ms. Wettlaufer, in particular, as well as to the fact. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Canadian Ambbadador to Jordan Peter MacDougall.
Unfortunately, this second Canadian cap was not the absolute success of the Iranian operation. Of the more than 800 people approved for rescue (and resettlement in Canada, Great Britain and Germany), only 422 made the trip to Israel and Jordan during the weekend: 98 rescuers and their families, including one baby born during
The road to safety for over 400 other people was blocked when ISIS fighters appeared near the Israeli-controlled pbad to the Golan Heights in the middle of the day. rescue operation. The situation on the battlefield has since changed, and al-Assad's forces now seem to be in complete control of the border areas of southwestern Syria.
White Helmet rescuers are still trapped in Syria and urge the international community to evacuate them on Tuesday, July 24, 2018.
MOHAMAD ABAZEED / Getty Images
The fate of other White Helmets is unknown. "The regime has already taken the whole area now, and our volunteers [are] are still there," said Majd Khalaf, one of the founders of the White Helmets, adding that it was difficult to communicate with those who were still in southern Syria. Asked in a WhatsApp conversation if those who remain are in danger, Mr. Khalaf replied, "Yes".
No Mercy
White Helmets Leaders – A Group Formally Known As The Syria Civil Defense Who Gets His Nickname The White Elite Members Of Canada Yet Canada's praise for the role it has played in persuading other countries that the greater number of them should be an urgent priority. Ms. Freeland used the July 11 and 12 summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to plead with pbadion, after which Germany and Britain agreed to 39, welcome some of the most prominent refugees.
19659019] His speech to other NATO foreign ministers may have helped US President Donald Trump use his influence with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring Israel to open its border and allow transit of whites. Helmets to Jordan.
"Three countries took the lead: Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, but the movement, the galvanization, came from Canada," said James Le Mesurier, a former member of British MI-5 intelligence who participated in the founding of White Helmets in 2014. He and other sources have praised Ms. Wettlaufer. "Robin was absolutely amazing."
What Mrs. Wettlaufer quickly understood and pbaded on to others was that Mr. al-Assad and his allies would show no mercy to the White Helmets who surrendered
. The Mesurier said that when al-Assad's forces resumed from other parts of Syria at the beginning of the conflict, his troops isolated the white helmets, tearing them off the buses that were supposed to evacuate those who wanted to leave the areas. . "When Aleppo, Duma and Homs were evacuated, the white helmets were literally removed from the buses and tortured by making video confessions that they were paid agents from the West, that they had simulated chemical attacks and so on. "
White Helmets are looking for people trapped in the rubble of destroyed buildings in Aleppo in 2016.
THAER MOHAMMED / Getty Images
Syrian and Russian governments call White Helmets a "terrorist" organization, a claim supported only by a few photos of members of the White Helmets gripping weapons. Some white helmets are veterans who say they have decided that the rescue could help their country.
The group's practice of filming its rescue operations and posting them online has sparked international indignation against the use of barrel bombs by the Assad regime. other weapons without discrimination in civilian areas. White Helmet's videos also provided initial evidence – later supported by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – that pro-government forces used chemical weapons during the seven-year war, provoking two waves of retaliatory air raids.
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The Syrian government has harshly criticized this week's evacuation as a "criminal operation" that "exposed the true nature of the organization known as the White Helmets. "
Brittany Fletcher, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said Canada gave $ 7.5 million to White Helmets over two years. Fletcher said the money was used to train White Helmets on explosive removal techniques and to involve more women in the management of the organization.
Robin was absolutely extraordinary
– James Le Mesurier, founder of White Helmets at the Ottawa Special Envoy in Syria, Robin Wettlaufer
Wettlaufer refused to be interviewed for this article – postponing the questions to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada – but sources in Ottawa and the Middle East have agreed that his determination, and his "sufficiently alarmed" reports from Istanbul, have persuaded Ms. Freeland and his department of the idea to rescue the white helmets trapped in southern Syria.
"It's Robin who waved the flag that we do not want to turn our backs on a group that has helped civilians and needs our help" a senior Canadian official familiar with the discussions, who had begun about a month ago. Sources say that Ms. Wettlaufer spoke directly with Ms. Freeland about the case.
"When Canada heard about the desperate plight of White Helmets, we could not turn our backs on people who ran the risk of their lives. Said Omar Alghabra, Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Getting Germany and Britain to accept some white helmets – despite growing hostility towards refugees and immigrants in both societies – was only one step away. Mrs. Freeland and her diplomats also insisted that Syrian neighbors participate
The good fence policy is over
Sources say the original plan was to bring 800 white helmets and their families directly in Jordan, this option disappeared because al-Assad's forces grew faster than expected, taking the border area before evacuation could begin.
The only option was via Israel, which according to sources was reluctant to set a precedent that could cause a flood of other people to head to the Golan Heights. On July 17, the Israeli army warned a crowd of Syrians who were approaching their positions waving white flags to "come back before something happens".
But a few days later, on the night of July 21, Israel opened its convoy. The transport convoy brings White Helmets and family members across the Golan Heights.
Reuters
Nimrod Barkan, ambbadador Israel in Ottawa says that he was approached to rescue the White Helmets in July. 12, the day the NATO summit ended in Brussels. Mr. Barkan first met with Mark Gwozdecky, Assistant Deputy Minister, Global Affairs Canada, and received a call from Ms. Freeland a few days later. Ms Freeland's message was simple: "It was an important humanitarian gesture, the White Helmets are well known and it is important to preserve them from changing realities," Barkan said in an interview. "There was no disagreement, we saw things in front of her."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also called Mr. Netanyahu, as did Mr. Trump. Barkan said that it was mostly to discuss the details of the operation.Israel has already decided to act
The rescue operation of the White Helmets actually marked the end of the "Good Closing" policy – supporting the anti-Assad rebels on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights – which Israel has adopted on the latter.S years of Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 after the Syrian police opened fire on anti-Assad peaceful demonstrations.
The 422 people – white helmets and family members – who crossed Israel on Saturday and Sunday were able to do so, while the rebels at the rear controlled the territory of the country. They had to cross, and by the end of Sunday, this territory was again between the hands of the Syrian army.
"The reason Israel has said that we have done this is that we realized that the Good Fence project is over and the Syrians will come back. There will be no second evacuation – at least not by Israel – for the white helmets still trapped in Syria.
A member of the White Helmets carries a wounded girl amidst the following rubble in Douma in 2017. [19659002] SAMEER AL-DOUMY / Getty Images
"Going to the Border"
Paul Ronzheimer, a German journalist who was one of the few witnesses of the evacuation, said that he was the only one in the world. Operation began on Saturday night, local time, in the Golan Heights, during what appeared to be a lull in fighting across the border.
A crowd approached the side Syrian border around 9:15 pm local time, said Ronzheimer.Two days earlier, the Casq White men received text messages: "Head to the border with Israel."
Those arriving at the Golan Heights were greeted by United Nations vehicles who checked their names on a list and led them to
Although there was confusion as to why only 422 of them had arrived, the refugees were quickly loaded onto buses and driven east towards the border with them. Jordan. Everything was over around 5 am Sunday. "Everything went very fast, I felt that the Israelis wanted to do that very quickly," Ronzheimer said. "The Israelis were nervous, and I also saw some of the faces of the White Helmets, and they were very stressed and emotional."
Persuading the Jordanian government to take part was another challenge. Jordan, a country of just 9.5 million people already hosting nearly 700,000 Syrian refugees – and large communities of Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese refugees from the Middle East conflicts – agreed, after receiving badurances Mr. MacDougall, White Helmets and their families would be as short as possible.
MacDougall and other staff members of the Canadian Mission in Amman, along with their British colleagues, also used the phones on Saturday night and early Sunday morning to settle cases of people arriving in the Golan without papers. In the end, all 422 were allowed to move from Israel to Jordan, where, for security reasons, they are now in an unknown place.
White Helmets will remain in Jordan for weeks before leaving for Canada. Reuters
Canada had planned to accept 50 white helmets and their families, which could have meant up to 250 people. However, this was based on the hope that more than 800 people would come out of Syria, so it is likely that a smaller number will arrive.
A senior Canadian official said that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would examine and interview whites. Helmets and their families in centers in Jordan – where many of the 50,000 Syrian refugees resettled in Canada in 2015 and 2016 were examined – recommend which families should go to which country.
Germany and Britain within five or six weeks, said the official. The Mesurier said that he was worried that the West would slap on the back and away from the White Helmets once the 422 evacuees were in their new homes. The war for Syria continues, he said – even though it now seems likely that al-Assad and his allies will win – and the other white helmets will try to save as many lives as they do. they can.
3,900 White Helmets in Syria, spread over 140 different points, "he said during a phone interview from Amman." It's great that a number of people are now in a safe place, but others continue to do what they can, wherever they are, with extraordinary risks. "
With reports from Gloria Galloway to Ottawa and Colin Freeze in Toronto
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