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MIZANAZ, SYRIA (REUTERS) – Fearing for his life, Daman Ayed is registered to be evacuated from Syria with hundreds of other members of the White Helmets Rescue Service, hoping for a new life in Canada .
At one year old, he was not among the hundreds of people who were driven out of the country last weekend on the Golan Heights occupied by Israel and Jordan. When the list of approved names for evacuation arrived, hers was not there.
"They told us at midnight that the names had arrived, we were surprised at the number of names that had not been approved," Ayed said. Instead, he joined thousands of other people who boarded buses for the territory of the opposition in northwestern Syria under the rebel surrender to the government
. According to the White Helmets, the rescuers and their families, initially supposed to participate in the evacuation, could not reach the border because of the fighting,
about 800 people, including about 250 white helmets, as well as 550 members of their family. the plans, only a hundred rescuers and about 300 parents were able to cross the Golan Heights and Jordan.
However, other White Helmets, including Ayed, have never been allowed to be evacuated. "We sent these lists … and some names were refused and some names were accepted," said Ammar al-Selmo, a White Helmet working at the group's headquarters in Turkey.
Britain, Canada, and Germany are among the countries
When asked why some white helmets were not included in the evacuation plans A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: "It was a response to a specific and urgent situation."
We worked alongside our partners to use our diplomatic channels to evacuate the maximum of white helmets and their families, in a context of extremely difficult security. "
Ayed, who arrived in the northwest with his parents and younger brother, said that he still saw Syria as his best hope of surviving the war
. Is the only way to save our lives, "he said
IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS
The north-west is the last big area still occupied by the rebels. to frequent bombings and President Bashar al-Assad said it was now his target.
Rescuers with White Helmets, who operate only in opposition-controlled areas of Syria, are running
"Our fate is worse than that of the army deserters," he said.
Assad accused the White Helmets of 39, be an al-Qaida front, and his government says that they made weapons attacks As a pretext
The group, which receives funding from Western governments, says it's a civilian relief organization that works under bombing to pull people out of the rubble.
Adding to her fear of capture by Assad forces, the army advanced into her southwestern district this month, she seized documents at the White Helmets base [19659002] "The most important is the name and identity of the volunteers, and our most special identity cards." The documents and names were not destroyed, but they remained such which and are in the hands of the regime. "
SHELLING
Assad crushed a center of rebellion after another in recent years and last month The airstrikes were followed by ground attacks and offers of surrender in exchange for a safe passage to north-west Syria for anyone who refused to return to government control
. Ayed, who said he was White Helmet for 16 months, was based in Lajat, the first rebel zone in Deraa to be attacked.
When the army closed, she bombed the White Helmets center and the rescuers fled. Prior to his capture, he said that his 30 staff members separated, heading to different parts of the remaining rebel territory.
Some sought refuge in cities that were later captured by the government. "
Ayed and his family met in Quneitra, near the border with the Golan Heights, the last rebel zone of southwestern Syria to surrender to the government
. evening, all his rescuers were summoned to an urgent meeting.
They were told to submit their names to the evacuation by Israel and Jordan, with the prospect of a resettlement to Canada, a- When the names came back, Ayed was not among them.
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