Trapped White Helmets live in fear, seek a way out
White Helmets volunteers trapped in southern Syria after the government seized areas they operated in said Wednesday they live in fear of being caught in the dragnet of the government, which considers them one of its staunchest enemies, and are desperately seeking a way out.
Hundreds of the volunteer rescue workers - who have toiled in conflict-ravaged opposition areas for years - have failed to make it out of southern Syria in a complex international evacuation.
The evacuation of more than 400 White Helmets was executed under the cover of darkness across the tightly sealed frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last weekend as a government offensive unfolded.
In the quickly changing battlefield, the volunteers were unable to access roads to the frontier in time for the first-of-its-kind evacuation that involved international co-ordination between six countries - Israel, the U.S. Britain, Germany, Jordan and Canada.
Advancing government forces and an affiliate of the Islamic State group expanding in the region quickly seized territory as the armed opposition crumbled or surrendered in the face of a month-long government offensive.
Two of the volunteers who couldn’t make it told The Associated Press they tried but couldn’t reach the frontier.
The two, who have been part of the group for years, had been cleared for evacuation. But they were caught between the IS-affiliate militants and government forces.
They are currently confined to about 10 square kilometres (3.8 square miles) where they can move between several small villages safely.
They live incognito, using off-roads to avoid government checkpoints and move in tight circles, often with protection, looking out for any signs of government troop movements. Their villages are besieged by government troops and Russian military police. After living for years under opposition administration, the Syrian flag now flies in their villages.
One of the two, who is in charge of a team of 30 volunteers, said he is scrambling to find ways to save them and their families.
“I have four kids and I am wanted. The (government) has declared war on everything that is civil defence,” he said, using the other name for the White Helmets. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested.
For those who stayed behind, the psychological pressure is even more crippling than the physical entrapment.
Unlike other civilians who decided to stay in the governmentcontrolled south, the White Helmets say it is impossible to trust the government to reconcile.
Rumors and media campaigns are making them even more jittery.