Syria castigates the evacuation of white helmets as a "criminal"

Beirut (AP) – The Syrian government on Monday condemned a multilateral operation to evacuate hundreds of aid workers from the war-torn country as a "criminal process".

The Syrian authorities have long described the Civil Defense Search and Rescue Group, known as the White Helmets, as a terrorist organization.

The group took on importance by filming its operations. rescue civilians from Syrian government air strikes in the country's brutal civil war. The government has alleged that the group is staging videos. The ally of Damascus, Russia, accuses the group of attacking civilians with chemical weapons and blaming them for the government, a charge that has never been proven.

On Saturday, more than 400 rescuers and their families were evacuated from the Quneitra province of Syria. Israel to Jordan, after the rebels handed over to the government the last areas they held in the southwestern province

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described it as " smuggling operation ", sign of a Western conspiracy to overthrow the government. White Helmets have financial support from the United States, Britain and other countries.

The unprecedented operation was conducted by the United States, Canada, and Britain, the Associated Press reported Friday.

The German Interior Ministry confirmed Monday that the country will grant asylum to eight rescuers and 39 members of his family.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday humanitarian ", adding that more than 250 white helmets have been killed in the war since 2013. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reportedly said" the White Helmets' efforts deserve admiration and respect. "

Germany has provided the group with 12 million euros of funding since 2016.

Meanwhile, Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat said that her country is not the only country in the world. had not been invited to another group of Whi Ghunaimat also said on Sunday that Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed "preliminary ideas" about the possible return of Syrian refugees to their homes. homeland, but that "we can not talk back the crisis in Syria is not over yet. "

" Jordan is eager and encourages return when the tension subsides because refugees are a heavy burden on the kingdom in light of the inability of the international community to cover the costs. "According to the statement more than five million people fled Syria during the seven-year civil war.Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defense proposed to the United States the creation of a group with Jordan, to organize refugee returns The group would be linked to an American-Russian-Jordanian center set up last year in Jordan to monitor a ceasefire in south-west Syria, said General Milkahil Mizintsev

adding that "last week President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at their summit in Finland

that" specific proposals were sent in the United States to organize the return of refugees to their places ". A similar operation would be established in Lebanon, he said.

The Lebanese national news agency reported on Monday that hundreds of refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria. This is the latest in a series of returns this year. President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotism Party has put refugees at the top of its political agenda

The national news agency said 850 Syrians living around the border town of Arsal were repatriated on Monday .

Nearly one million Syrians registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency in Lebanon. The agency, UNHCR, says she's not organizing a return to Syria. He says that refugees should not be forced to return.

Also on Monday, Israel said it fired two missiles to intercept two missiles fired from Syria in the direction of Israel. He said that Syrian missiles landed on Syrian territory just before the Golan Heights, which have been occupied by Israel since 1967.