White Helmets (Syrian Civil War)

White Helmets
الدفاع المدني السوري
Abbreviation SCD
Formation 2014 (2014)
Founder James Le Mesurier[1][2][3]
Purpose Civil defense
Region served
Syrian opposition-controlled areas
Head
 Raed Saleh
Volunteers
3,000 (with monthly stipend)
Website syriacivildefense.org

The White Helmets (Arabic: الخوذ البيضاء ,القبعات البيضاء‎ al-Ḫawdh al-bayḍāʾ / al-Qubaʿāt al-Bayḍāʾ), officially known as Syria Civil Defence (SCD; Arabic: الدفاع المدني السوري‎ ad-Difāʿ al-Madanī as-Sūrī), is a volunteer organisation that operates in parts of rebel-controlled Syria and in Turkey. Formed in 2014 during the Syrian Civil War, the majority of their activity in Syria consists of medical evacuation, urban search and rescue in response to bombing, evacuation of civilians from danger areas, and essential service delivery. As of April 2018, the organisation claimed to have saved over 114,000 lives, with 204 White Helmet volunteers losing their lives in the process.[4]

The group has been the target of a disinformation campaign by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia-sponsored media organisations such as RT, with false claims of close ties with terrorist activities and other conspiracy theories.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] SCD have been viewed by the Bashar al-Assad government and its allies such as Iran and Russia as anti-government propaganda tools and proxies of rebels, funded by the West.[12]

History

The rescue teams that later became Syria Civil Defence emerged during the late 2012 escalation of the Syrian Civil War, as areas no longer under government control came under sustained attack by government forces. In response, in the absence of formal governmental structures, small groups of civilian volunteers from affected communities, particularly in Aleppo and Idlib, assembled to assist civilians injured in bombardment or trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.[13][14] Training, funding and support was provided from international partners, including donations from governments in Western Europe, the US and Japan; the Turkish AKUT Search and Rescue Association; and a variety of NGOs, private individuals, public fundraising campaigns, and charities.[15][16] Primary support and training was provided by Mayday Rescue Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation established by former British Army officer James Le Mesurier,[17] and became a key factor in the development of the organisation.[18][1]

Local and provincial councils joined with Mayday Rescue Foundation and AKUT Search and Rescue Association to create the first training programmes in early 2013. ARK, an international contracting firm based in the United Arab Emirates,[6] would facilitate entry of volunteers to Turkey, where they would be trained by AKUT.[19][20][21][22][1][23][24] Early training courses included trauma care, command and control and crisis management.[25] Over the next two years, the number of independent civil defence teams grew to several dozen as graduates of the early trainings such as Raed Saleh established new centers; the national organisation of SCD was founded on 25 October 2014 at a conference of independent teams.[26]

SCD grew to be an organisation of over 3,000 volunteers operating from 111 local civil defence centres across 8 provincial directorates (Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Damascus Countryside, and Daraa). In October 2014, these self-organised teams came together and voted to form one national organisation: Syria Civil Defence. As of January 2017, the SCD claims to have rescued over 80,000 people since they began to keep count in 2014.[15] The White Helmets themselves have become targets of Syrian and Russian airstrikes.[27][28] According to The Economist, approximately one in six SCD have been killed or badly wounded, "many by 'double tap' Russian and Syrian airstrikes on the same site as they search for bodies."[15] Seven members were killed in August 2017 in an apparent assassination at their operations centre in Sarmin in Idlib Province.[29]

Although SCD exists since 2013, their worldwide acknowledgement in media started in late 2014 with the help of The Syria Campaign NGO,[30] which introduced the nickname "White Helmets".[31]

On 14 December 2016, as the Syrian Armed Forces were recapturing eastern Aleppo, SCD head Raed Saleh requested safe passage of SCD operatives to rebel controlled countryside around Aleppo.[32] Syria Civil Defence joined the Independent Doctors Association, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and the Violations Documentation Center to accuse Russian forces of war crimes in eastern Aleppo, jointly submitting a report to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.[33]

In May 2018, the United States Department of State announced that funding has been frozen for the White Helmets.[34][35][36] A State Department official indicated that they were reviewing assistance programs in Syria overall, which included funding for the White Helmets, and at the same time indicated that the United States would continue to support the White Helmets through multilateral donations. The chairman of the White Helmets stated that the government of United States, and other supportive institutions, promised to continue to provide critical funding to the organization.[35]

On the night of 21 July 2018, Israel opened the Golan Heights boundary to allow a UN rescue mission to evacuate 422 people – 98 White Helmet volunteers and their family members – to Jordan. An international group led by Chrystia Freeland lobbied for the exit of the White Helmets, as their lives were in danger due to the Syrian government′s advancing offensive in southwestern Syria. The White Helmets reported 3,700 of their volunteers remained in Syria.[12][37][38][39] A Syrian government official condemned the evacuation of White Helmets as a "criminal operation" that had revealed "the terrorist nature" of the group.[40][41] Bashar al-Assad said "They have two choices: to lay down their arms and use the amnesty we have offered over the last four or five years, or be killed like other terrorists."[42] In September 2018 the United Kingdom granted asylum to about 100 White Helmet staff and relatives that had been evacuated to Jordan.[43]

Operations

SCD clearing rubble following an attack in Maarat al-Nu'man in November 2014, using a USAID-supplied bucket loader

SCD's stated mission is "to save the greatest number of lives in the shortest possible time and to minimize further injury to people and damage to property."[14] Their work covers the 15 civil defence tasks as laid out in international humanitarian law (IHL);[44] the bulk of their activity in Syria consists of urban search and rescue in response to bombing, medical evacuation, evacuation of civilians from danger areas, and essential service delivery.[45]

The most prominent role of SCD was rescuing civilians from airstrikes with barrel bombs, improvised explosive devices dropped by SAAF helicopters. Following a request from Bashar al-Assad for support, Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War on 30 September 2015.[46] Much of the work of SCD has been responding to aerial bombardments by the Russian Air Force attack aircraft.

As well as providing rescue services, SCD undertakes repair works such as securing damaged buildings and reconnecting electrical and water services, clearing roads, teaching children about unexploded ordnance hazards, as well as firefighting and winter storm relief.[47][48][49] Sometimes described as the most dangerous job in the world,[50][16] SCD operations involve risk from a wide variety of war-zone threats. By late 2016, 159 White Helmets had been killed since the organisation's inception.[48]

SCD is not affiliated with the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO), nor is it connected to the Damascus's Syrian Civil Defence Forces which have been a member of the ICDO since 1972.[51] However, since the Syrian government's civil defence organisation operates in government-held areas[52] and since bombardment of civilian populations in Syria is overwhelmingly perpetrated against opposition-held areas by Syrian government forces, SCD engages in civil defence tasks in these rebel-held areas.[53]

As of 2015, SCD had an annual budget of $30 million provided by a mix of state donors and public fundraising. Volunteers who work full-time receive a $150 monthly stipend.[54]

It has a co-ordination office on the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep[28] and a training centre in Turkey.[15]

There are about 100 female White Helmets.[55][56]

In 2015, the SCD unsuccessfully lobbied the EU and other governments to impose a no fly zone over certain parts of Syria to protect civilians from airstrikes.[57] The White Helmets have continued to lobby governments, particularly France, in subsequent years.[58]

Partnerships and funding

SCD is officially an impartial humanitarian NGO, with no affiliation to any political or military actor and a commitment to render services to anyone in need.[14] Like all NGOs operating in opposition-controlled areas, SCD negotiates humanitarian access with organisations such as local councils, provincial councils, and armed groups, with relationships varying widely from governorate to governorate.[13] It is nonetheless regarded as pro-opposition by National Public Radio[59]and Andolu Agency.[60]

SCD work in close partnership with the Netherlands-based NGO Mayday Rescue Foundation. Mayday Rescue's Program Manager for Syria is Farouq Habib,[61][62] who has also been described as the White Helmets' Head of International Relations.[63]

The White Helmets receives charitable funding from the United States, the United Kingdom, and other western governments.[64] Initially the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office was the largest single source of funding through Mayday Rescue Foundation.[65] As of 2016, SCD state they are also partly funded through Chemonics, a U.S. based private international development company.[64] Funders now include the Canadian government Peace and Stabilization Operations Program,[62] the Danish government,[66][67] the German government,[68] the Japan International Cooperation Agency,[20][69] the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[70][71] the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[72] the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)[47] and the United Kingdom Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).[73] USAID have contributed at least $23 million from 2013 to March 2016.[74][75] The British government had provided £15 million of funding between 2012 and November 2015,[76] increased to £32 million by October 2016.[77] As of 31 March 2018, the British government had provided £38.4m in aid to the White Helmets.[78] The SCD has also received individual donations online to their Hero Fund, which provides treatment for wounded volunteers and supports their families.[79] In March 2017, the organization was reported to be operating on a budget of about $26 million.[9]

In April 2018 the Trump administration suspended the funding of the White Helmets as part of a wider suspension of the funding of stabilization projects in Syria while the U.S. reassesses its role in Syria. The U.S. had provided more than $33 million to support the group since 2013.[80][34] On 14 June 2018, the Trump administration authorised USAID and the United States Department of State to release approximately $6.6 million in aid to be shared between the group and the UN's International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism in Syria.[81]

The Netherlands announced that it would end its funding of several aid projects in opposition strongholds in Syria, including the White Helmets, by December 2018. This announcement followed a Ministry of Foreign Affairs report according to which the supervision over the activity of White Helmets is inadequate and there is a risk that funds meant for the rescue workers would end up in the hands of armed groups instead.[82][83][84]

Publicity and recognition

SCD is widely cited, quoted, or depicted in regional and international media coverage of the conflict in Syria.[85] Raed Al Saleh, the Director of SCD, has been an outspoken advocate against bombardment of civilians, addressing the United Nations Security Council and other international bodies on a number of occasions.[86][87]

SCD has been the subject of two films. The streaming service Netflix released a documentary film entitled The White Helmets on September 16, 2016 by British director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara.[88] The film won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 89th Academy Awards.[89] SCD head Raed Saleh was unable to go to the Oscars ceremony due to escalation of the conflict, despite having a valid visa. Khaled Khateeb, cinematographer of the film, was unable to attend due to a visa problem.[90] Associated Press reported that the United States Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump decided to block Khaled Khateeb at the 11th hour.[91] Released in 2017, Last Men in Aleppo was directed by Syrian director Feras Fayyad in collaboration with Danish film-maker Steven Johannessen and the Aleppo Media Centre; it was the Winner of the Grand Jury Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.[92]

SCD was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize[93] and was a recipient of the 2016 Right Livelihood Award, the "Alternative Nobel Prize".[94]

In 2017, it was awarded the McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award by Refugees International[56][95] and its women volunteers were awarded the Theirworld Hope award by Sarah Jane Brown's children's charity Theirworld.[96] Female SCD volunteer Manal Abazeed, who accepted these awards, was listed by Fortune magazine as being among the "World's Most Powerful Women" of 2017.[56]

In 2017, Politico listed Khaled Omar Harrah, a notable member in Aleppo, known as the 'child rescuer', as one of the 28 people "shaping, shaking and stirring Europe".[97][98] He was killed in Aleppo in an airstrike in August 2016.[99] Harrah is the main character in Last Men in Aleppo, which was dedicated to him after his death.[100]

Another notable member is Mohammed Abu Kifah, a civil defence team member who rescued another child from beneath the rubble in Idlib.[101][29] Following his death in an apparent assassination on 12 August 2017, aged 25 years old, Kifah's life was celebrated on BBC Radio 4's Last Word.[102]

Controversies

According to investigative journalists and analysts, SCD became a target of a systematic information warfare campaign by the Russian government, the Syrian government, alt-right personalities, and their supporters, who have accused the organisation of taking sides in the Syrian Civil War, carrying arms and supporting "terrorist" groups.[103][10][6][7][104][105][100] According to The Guardian's Olivia Solon, claims by contributors to the English language Russian RT television network and Sputnik news agency have also come under critical scrutiny.[8] According to the fact-checking organisation Snopes.com these accusations against the White Helmets are unfounded.[5] Likewise, multiple journalists have raised serious questions as to the credibility and government ties of individuals making accusations against SCD.[106][107] According to The New York Times's Linda Qiu, Assad's claim that the White Helmets are "Al-Qaeda members" was "without evidence".[108]

In November 2016, the Revolutionaries of Syria Media Office, an opposition media organisation, published a video showing two SCD volunteers performing a staged rescue operation for the Mannequin Challenge meme. The White Helmets apologised for their volunteers' error of judgement and said it had not shared the recording on their official channels.[109][110]

In June 2017, a member of the White Helmets was suspended indefinitely after he was discovered to have assisted armed militants in the burial of mutilated corpses of soldiers belonging to pro-government forces.[111]

Footage showing White Helmets members removing a man's body following his execution by rebel militants has caused critics to accuse the group of "assisting" in executions. The leader of the White Helmets has remarked that these are "isolated incidents" and are not representative of the leadership of the organisation.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jan, Maria (21 August 2015). "Q&A: Syria's White Helmets". Al Jazeera Media Network. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "Die obskuren White Helmets ". Heise.de. 30 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "Ordinary people turn superheroes". The Straits Times. 9 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Saleh, Raed. "The Most Dangerous Place in the World". The White Helmets. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  5. 1 2 Palma, Bethania (15 December 2016). "FACT CHECK: Syrian Rescue Organization 'The White Helmets' Are Terrorists". Snopes. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Lucas, Scott. "Who are Syria's White Helmets, and why are they so controversial?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  7. 1 2 patrickhilsman, Author (2016-12-19). "Russia and the Syrian Regime are Documenting Their Own Crimes". P U L S E. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  8. 1 2 3 Solon, Olivia (18 December 2017). "How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  9. 1 2 Erickson, Amanda (1 March 2017). "After Oscar win, Russian Embassy calls Syria's White Helmets 'actors,' not life-savers". The Washington Post.
  10. 1 2 Ellis, Emma Grey (30 April 2017). "Inside the conspiracy theory that turned Syria's first responders into terrorists". Wired.com.
  11. ↑ "White Helmets 'staging fake attacks' in Syria? We sort fact from fiction". France 24. May 14, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Syrian 'White Helmets' flee to Jordan with Israeli, Western help". Reuters. 22 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 Aikins, Matthieu. "Whoever Saves a Life — Matter". Medium. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  14. 1 2 3 "Volunteers to Save Lives | SCD". www.syriacivildefense.org. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "The rise of Syria's White Helmets". The Economist. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  16. 1 2 Bryan Schatz (10 December 2014). "The Most Dangerous Job in the World: Syria's Elite Rescue Force". Men's Journal. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Order of the British Empire" The London Gazette – Official Public Record. 11 June 2016. — "THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty’s Birthday, to give orders for the following promotions in, and appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire: O.B.E. To be Ordinary Officers of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order: James Gustaf Edward LE MESURIER, Director, Mayday Rescue, For services to Syria Civil Defence and the protection of civilians in Syria."
  18. ↑ Le Mesurier, James. "Our Work". Mayday Rescue. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Emily Hough (December 2014). "Meeting Syria's volunteer rescuers". Crisis Response Journal. 10 (2). Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  20. 1 2 "Train Urban Search and Rescue Teams". Analysis, Research and Knowledge. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "James Le Mesurier". Mayday Rescue. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Our Team - Mayday Rescue".
  23. ↑ "This is why the White Helmets should win the Nobel Peace Prize". 5 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "UK training for Syrian activists to save lives". Foreign and Commonwealth Office. gov.uk. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  25. ↑ Sloane Speakman (13 May 2015). "Syria Civil Defence: A Framework for Demobilization and Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Syria". Georgetown Security Studies Review. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  26. ↑ Jonathan Gornall (29 September 2016). "Newsmaker: The White Helmets". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  27. ↑ Malsin, Jared (25 September 2016). "How the White Helmets of Syria Are Being Hunted in a Devastated Aleppo". Time.
  28. 1 2 Jared Maslin. "The White Helmets Of Syria". TIME. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  29. 1 2 Raf Sanchez Seven members of Syria's White Helmets shot dead by unknown gunmen, 'Telegraph, 12 August 2017
  30. ↑ "Les Casques blancs syriens, des héros trop discrets". 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  31. ↑ "Meet Syria's Peacemakers: Fighting on the Side of Life", The Syria Campaign, Youtube, 13th January 2015
  32. ↑ Raed Al Saleh (14 December 2016). "As a White Helmet I ask for one thing: safe passage for those in Aleppo". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  33. ↑ Michelle Nichols (15 December 2016). "Syria's White Helmets accuse Russia of Aleppo war crimes: letter". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  34. 1 2 Atwood, Kylie (3 May 2018). "U.S. freezes funding for Syria's "White Helmets"". CBS News. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  35. 1 2 https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/us-funding-syria-white-helmets/index.html
  36. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/04/white-helmets-rescue-group-have-us-funding-frozen/
  37. ↑ Mackinnon, Mark (July 24, 2018). "How Canada's woman in Istanbul began the daring rescue of Syria's White Helmets". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  38. ↑ "Syria's White Helmets call on UN to save trapped volunteers". The Guardian. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  39. ↑ Shaheen, Kareem (24 July 2018). "'Heartbroken' White Helmets say they fled Syria fearing Assad reprisals". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  40. ↑ CNN, Kareem Khadder, (July 23, 2018). "300 White Helmet rescue workers still trapped in Syria". CNN. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  41. ↑ "Syria condemns Israeli evacuation of White Helmets as 'criminal operation'". ABC News Australia. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  42. ↑ Kalvapalle, Rahul (July 26, 2018). "Syria's Assad says White Helmets are terrorists, will be killed if they don't surrender". Global News. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  43. ↑ Ensor, Josie (24 September 2018). "Britain grants asylum to 100 White Helmet rescuers and relatives after Syria evacuation". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  44. ↑ "Civil defence - ICRC". www.icrc.org. 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  45. ↑ Dagher, Sam (May 1, 2016). "White Helmets Are White Knights for Desperate Syrians". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  46. ↑ Chappell, Bill (30 September 2015). "Russia Begins Airstrikes In Syria After Assad's Request". National Public Radio Inc. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  47. 1 2 "Syria". USAID. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  48. 1 2 Mehrnoush Pourziaiee (26 August 2016). "White Helmets, Omran and fading hope in Syria". BBC Persian. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  49. ↑ Emma Pearson, Katie Welsford (20 November 2014). "In conversation with Syria's 'White Helmets'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  50. ↑ Lydia James (10 October 2014). "The most dangerous job in the world". New Internationalist. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  51. ↑ "Member states". International Civil Defence Organisation. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  52. ↑ قوات الدفاع المدني [Civil Defense Force]. Defense Ministry in the Syrian Arab Republic.
  53. ↑ Arab, The New. "Syrian regime responsible for 75% of 2016 civilian casualties". alaraby. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  54. ↑ Janine di Giovanni (21 January 2016). "Syria's White Helmets Save Civilians, Soldiers and Rebels Alike". Newsweek. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  55. ↑ Arwa Ibrahim 'We will play our part,' says White Helmet female volunteer, Middle East Eye, 9 March 2017
  56. 1 2 3 The World's Most Powerful Women: April 28, Fortune, April 2017
  57. ↑ "Syria's First Responders Say They Need a No-Fly Zone, But No One Listens | VICE News". VICE News. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  58. ↑ Irish, John. "Enough red lines, time to act, Syria's White Helmets tell Macron". U.S. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  59. ↑ "Syrian Government Accused Of Killing Dozens In Chemical Attack". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  60. ↑ "Assad regime targets E. Ghouta with gas: White Helmets". Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  61. ↑ "Farouq Habib". Mayday Rescue. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  62. 1 2 "Modification - Nobel Peace Prize nominees White Helmets to visit five Canadian cities". Government of Canada. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016. Today, Canada is also announcing a $4.5-million contribution to Mayday Rescue to support the White Helmets' life-saving work in Syria. This contribution, funded through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
  63. ↑ "Nobel Peace Prize nominated 'White Helmets' to visit five Canadian cities". British High Commission Ottawa. gov.uk. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  64. 1 2 "Our Partners". Syria Civil Defence. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  65. ↑ Richard Spencer (27 September 2015). "As the West drops demand for Assad to go, meet the group the UK funds to support his victims". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  66. ↑ "The Government launches a new stabilisation support package to Iraq and Syria". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  67. ↑ "Denmark donates DKK 20 million to Syria's 'White Helmets'". reliefweb. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  68. ↑ "RFQ-160816 Search and Rescue Equipment" (zip/Word). Mayday Rescue. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  69. ↑ "Donors". Mayday Rescue. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  70. ↑ Zaken, Ministerie van Buitenlandse. "Dutch support for Syrian rescue workers". www.government.nl. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  71. ↑ Janene Pieters (22 November 2016). "Netherlands to give €4 million to Syria rescue workers". NL Times. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  72. ↑ Sam Sachdeva (26 October 2016). "NZ Fire Service to train Syria's 'White Helmets' civil defence volunteers". stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  73. ↑ "2010 to 2015 government policy: peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  74. ↑ Mark C. Toner (27 April 2016). "Daily Press Briefing - April 27, 2016". United States Department of State. Retrieved 22 September 2016. we provide, through USAID, about $23 million in assistance to them
  75. ↑ Salhani, Justin (20 April 2016). "U.S. Denies Entry To Syrian Aid Worker Who Came To Receive Humanitarian Award". ThinkProgress.
  76. ↑ "Providing non-humanitarian assistance in Syria". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  77. ↑ "Conflict, Stability and Security Fund". House of Lords Hansard. UK Parliament. 2 November 2016. Column 720. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  78. ↑ McVeigh, Karen (10 May 2018). "UK may increase aid to Syrian White Helmets after Trump pulls funding". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  79. ↑ "They've saved over 60,000 lives. Now they need you and me". Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  80. ↑ Hall, Richard (4 May 2018). "Trump freezes funding for 'White Helmet' volunteers as part of larger cut to Syrian aid". Public Radio International. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  81. ↑ "Funding for the Syrian Civil Defense and UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  82. ↑ Nederland stopt steun aan Syrische oppositie wegens gebrekkig toezicht op hulpprojecten; Britse organisatie ontkent kritiek, Volkskrant, 10.09.2018
  83. ↑ Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands), August 2018. pp. 11-12
  84. ↑ The Netherlands withdraws support for Syrian rebels as Assad's forces 'WILL WIN SOON', Sunday Express, 11.09.2018
  85. ↑ "Google". www.google.com.tr. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  86. ↑ "Syrian rescue organization appeals to UN Security Council over barrel bombs". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  87. ↑ Wintour, Patrick; Black, Ian (4 February 2016). "David Cameron calls for billions more in international aid for Syrian refugees". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  88. ↑ "Netflix to Unveil Four Original Documentaries at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival". Netflix Media Center. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  89. ↑ "2017 Winners and Nominees". Oscars. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  90. ↑ Messer, Lesley. "'White Helmets' filmmakers discuss Raed Saleh and Khaled Khateeb's absences". ABCNews. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  91. ↑ Klapper, Bradley. "Syrian who worked on nominated film can't attend Oscar". Associated Press. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  92. ↑ Charlie Phillips Unflinching film-making … Last Men in Aleppo, Guardian Tuesday 24 January 2017
  93. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize: Who will win this year?". BBC News. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  94. ↑ "Here's The Story Of 'White Helmets' Who Are Saving Innocent Civilians In War-Torn Syria". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  95. ↑ Ari Shapiro Female Syrian White Helmets Honoree Had No Hesitation To Join, NPR, April 26, 2017
  96. ↑ Female White Helmets from Syria and Afghan footballer receive Theirworld awards, Theirworld, 7 March 2017
  97. ↑ "Khaled Omar Harrah: The First Responder". Politico.
  98. ↑ "Magazin wählt Petry und Erdogan zu den 'Denkern und Machern 2017'". Rheinische Post (in German). 7 December 2016.
  99. ↑ Tahhan, Zena (August 19, 2016). "White Helmet: We called Khaled the 'child rescuer'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  100. 1 2 Matthew Carey ‘Last Men in Aleppo’ Director Firas Fayyad: Russian Disinformation Campaign Distorts Image Of Syrian White Helmets, Deadline, November 13, 2017 12:26pm
  101. ↑ "Civil defense volunteer bursts into tears after rescuing a baby girl in Idlib". Orient News. September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  102. ↑ Presenter: Kate Silverton; Interviewed Guest: Moaz Al Shami (25 August 2017). "Abu Kifah, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Brian Aldiss, Blanche Blackwell, Jerry Lewis". Last Word. 1:10 minutes in. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  103. ↑ "High praise for Syria's 'White Helmets' – but who are they?". France 24. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  104. ↑ "Assad's allies in the West" (in Arabic). alaraby.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  105. ↑ Czuperski, Maksymilian (February 2017). "Breaking Aleppo" (PDF). Atlantic Council. pp. 56–60. ISBN 978-1-61977-449-0. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  106. ↑ Worrall, Patrick. "FactCheck: Eva Bartlett's claims about Syrian children". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  107. ↑ "There's No Such Thing as a Good Fake – When Publicity Stunts Go Wrong – bellingcat". bellingcat. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  108. ↑ Qiu, Linda (10 April 2017). "Syria Conspiracy Theories Flourish, at Both Ends of the Spectrum". The New York Times.
  109. ↑ "White Helmets backlash after Mannequin Challenge video". BBC News. 24 November 2016.
  110. ↑ "Syria's White Helmets apologize for Mannequin Challenge video". CNN. 24 November 2016.
  111. ↑ "Renown White Helmets fire member for dumping dead soldiers in Syria". 22 June 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.