White Helmet evacuation condemned by Syria

The Syrian government on Monday condemned a multilateral operation to evacuate hundreds of rescue workers from the war-torn country as a “criminal process” intended to de-stabilize Syria. Syrian authorities have long described the Civil Defence search-and-rescue group, which are popularly known as the White Helmets, as a terror organization.

The group rose to prominence as it filmed its operations to rescue civilians from Syrian government airstrikes in the country’s brutal civil war. The government has alleged the group stages videos. Damascus’s ally Russia has accused the group of staging chemical weapons attacks on civilians and blaming them on the government, a charge that has never been proven.

On Saturday, more than 400 rescuers and their family members were evacuated from Syria’s Quneitra province through Israel to Jordan, after the rebels surrendered the last areas they held in the southwestern province to the government.

Syria’s foreign ministry called it a “smuggling operation” that was evidence of a Western conspiracy to overthrow the government. The White Helmets have financial backing from the U.S., Britain, and other nations.

The unprecedented operation was spearheaded by the U.S., Canada and Britain, The Associated Press reported on Friday.

The rescuers and their families are expected to be resettled in Europe and Canada.

Germany’s Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday that the country would give asylum to eight rescuers and 39 family members.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday giving the rescue workers shelter “is a humanitarian obligation,” adding that more than 250 White Helmets have been killed in the war since 2013. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was quoted as saying “the efforts of the White Helmets deserve admiration and respect.”

Germany has provided the group with 12 million euros ($14 million) in funding since 2016.

Meanwhile, Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat said her country has not been asked to receive another group of White Helmets.

Ghunaimat also said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Sunday discussed “preliminary ideas” about the possible return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, but that “we cannot talk about return while the crisis in Syria is not yet over.”

“Jordan is willing and encouraging the return when tension calms down because the refugees constitute a heavy burden on the kingdom in the light of the international community’s inability to cover the costs,” she said.

More than five million people have fled Syria during its seven-year civil war, according to the UN.