Rescuing the rescuers
800 White Helmets and their families being moved to Jordan.
AMMAN: Israel has evacuated 800 White Helmets rescuers and their family members threatened by advancing Syrian regime forces to Jordan for resettlement in Britain, Canada and Germany, the kingdom said.
An Israeli government source confirmed Israel’s military had rescued 800 people who were taken to Jordan.
“Upon request of the US, Canada and European states Israel has completed a humanitarian effort to rescue members of a Syrian civil organisation (White Helmets) and families,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
Founded in 2013, the Syria Civil Defence, or White Helmets, is a network of first responders which rescues wounded in the aftermath of air strikes, shelling or blasts in rebel-held territory.
Jordan said that it had taken in 800 White Helmets rescuers and their families from Israel and plans to transfer them to the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
“The Jordanian government said it had authorised the United Nations to organise the passage of 800 Syrian citizens through Jordan to be resettled in western countries,” the kingdom said.
“The government gave the permission after Britain, Germany and Canada made a legally binding undertaking to resettle them within a specified period of time due to ‘a risk to their lives’,” it said in an English-language statement.
“These Syrian citizens who were working in the civil defence, had
fled the areas controlled by the Syrian opposition after the Syrian army’s attack in those areas.”
Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement that “Canada, working in close partnership with the United Kingdom and Germany, has been leading an international effort to ensure the safety of White Helmets and their families”.
“At a meeting of foreign ministers on the occasion of the Nato leaders’ summit in Brussels a week ago, I called for global leadership to support and help these heroes.”
The White Helmets have rescued thousands of civilians trapped under the rubble or caught up in fighting in battered opposition-held zones along various fronts of Syria’s conflict. Since its formation, when Syria’s conflict was nearing its third year, more than 200 of its volunteers have died and another 500 have been wounded.
The group’s motto – “To save one life is to save all of humanity” – is drawn from a verse in the Quran, although the White Helmets insist they treat all victims, regardless of religion.