Latest news with #WhiteHelmets
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria shutters displacement camp Rukban, symbol of Assad regime, people's suffering
Between 2018 and 2019, the number of displaced people in the camp reached 50,000, most of them women and children, according to a Syrian media report. Syria has moved to close Rukban, a large internally displaced persons camp that was long a symbol of suffering in the country. The camp was in southern Syria near the Jordanian border. Tens of thousands of Syrians had crowded into this camp. It was in the desert and lacked basic services. Nearby was a US army camp called Al-Tanf Garrison, where there was a small US-backed Syrian rebel unit during the Syrian Civil War. Most of the people who fled to Rukban were from Homs, the Damascus countryside, Palmyra, and Deir ez-Zor regions. Now the Rukban camp has closed, according to Syrian officials. This was made possible by the six months of rule by the new Syrian government. That government came to power when the Assad regime collapsed. The Assad regime was responsible for the suffering and civil war that led to many people fleeing to Rukban. As such, those people can now return home without fear of persecution or arrest. Syria's Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh confirmed on Saturday, June 7, that the closure of the Rukban camp marks the end of one of the most severe humanitarian tragedies that displaced Syrians have endured over the years, Syria's Al-Ikhbariah reported. Salah is a well-known figure. During the civil war, he was director of the White Helmets, the Syrian civil defense group that helped people in rebel-held areas. As such, he sees this as an achievement because of his deep knowledge of what IDPs went through in places like Rukban. US Congressman French Hill praised the move in a post on Twitter/X. 'This is amazing news that these Syrians are now able to return to their families and villages. After more than a decade of Assad's brutal regime, freedom of movement has returned. Thanks to the US Army and the humanitarian groups, like Arkansas's own Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), that facilitated essential food and medicine to enter this remote and beleaguered place. May God bless those headed home to start life anew.' The SETF posted that the camp was closed and showed the small homes that had previously served the people, which were now empty and covered in the khaki color of the desert dust. Hill visited Syria in 2023, one of the few Americans to visit the country at the time. At the time, he said, 'Over the past seven years, I have worked tirelessly as a voice in Congress for the innocent people of Syria who are being brutally murdered by Bashar al-Assad's regime. I am proud that the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a non-profit based in central Arkansas, which I represent in Congress, has been a strong advocate in leading humanitarian efforts in the region.' He noted that, 'alongside Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) and Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), on Sunday, I had the pleasure of visiting both the beautiful children of SETF's sponsored school for orphans, the Wisdom House, in northwest Syria and their sponsored healthcare residence for chronically ill Syrians, the House of Healing, in Gaziantep, Turkey.' He also spoke at the time about the need to help 'dismantle the production and trafficking of captagon' in Syria. 'As a co-chair of the Friends of a Free, Stable and Democratic Syria Caucus alongside Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA), I will continue my work in Congress on the issue of Syria and its future. I thank the amazing, dedicated staffs at the Wisdom House and House of Healing for their incredible work in helping the Syrian people and for all Arkansans who support the SETF-backed organizations helping Syrians throughout the region,' he added. Now he has seen this work come to fruition. He praised the fall of Assad in December 2024. Salah also posted on social media about the importance of closing Rukban. He spoke about ending the suffering at the remaining IDP camps. 'The Rukban camp was subjected to a suffocating siege from all sides by forces of the former Syrian regime. Jordan also closed its borders and halted regular aid deliveries in 2016 after a cross-border ISIS attack killed seven Jordanian soldiers,' Al-Ikhbariah noted. "Between 2018 and 2019, the number of displaced people in the camp reached 50,000, most of them women and children. The camp witnessed the deaths of several children, including infants, due to a lack of medical supplies and freezing temperatures during the winter,' the report added.
Times
09-05-2025
- Times
They joined White Helmets to save souls. Now they're saving history
The White Helmets, Syria's most renowned rescue organisation, have been tasked with protecting the country's cultural heritage from damage by looting, neglect, explosives and natural hazards. Part of the Fertile Crescent, Syria's location at the juncture of three continents has bestowed it with one of the richest and most diverse archaeological legacies in the world, dating back more than 10,000 years to the earliest roots of civilisation. Much of that legacy, however, is under threat — menaced by the legacy of war, the natural environment and human actors. Now, in a landmark agreement with the new government in Damascus, the White Helmets will begin a two-year mission to survey and safeguard sites of archaeological and cultural significance, including the citadel at Aleppo, the ruined city
Arab News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Qatar supplies Syria's White Helmets with vehicles, logistical equipment
LONDON: Qatar has provided a consignment of vehicles, water pumps and other logistical equipment to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, to support its humanitarian and rescue efforts. Since the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime late last year, the White Helmets have been at the forefront of rescue and first aid operations in Syria, providing essential relief services and contributing to rebuilding efforts. The consignment was received at the Internal Security Force headquarters in Al-Duhail on Wednesday in the presence of Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed Al Saleh and Qatari Brig. Gen. Nawaf Majed Al-Ali, assistant commander for security operations at the internal force. The equipment included fire engines, mobile water tanks, high-altitude rescue vehicles, water pumps and personnel transport vehicles that will be used in search and rescue operations and emergency response, the Qatar News Agency reported. Mounir Moustafa, director of the White Helmets, praised Qatar's support and said the equipment and training programs would significantly enhance their daily operations.
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Assad Defaced: Syrians Destroy a Dictator's Icons
Visuals by David Guttenfelder Text by Raja Abdulrahim When Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December, the iconography of posters, billboards and statues emblematic of his family's brutal decades-long grip on the country also came down. The images of Assad family members — on government buildings and taxi windows, in shops and at ancient sites — were a way to cement the Assad cult of personality and assert control. The dictatorship survived for so long partly by making Syrians fearful and distrusting of one another. 'They practically made themselves gods,' said Ibrahim Qashash, 42, who is from rebels stormed Aleppo days into the offensive that ousted Mr. al-Assad, Mr. Qashash said he followed them into the a lawyers' union headquarters, he found three posters of Mr. al-Assad. Someone had already made long scratches across them. Mr. Qashash finished the job. As the rebels swept across Syria, symbols that had once seemed omnipresent Aleppo, a statue of one of Mr. al-Assad's brothers, Bassel al-Assad, on a horse was toppled. The horse remained. In a village north of Damascus, the capital, a giant statue of the ousted leader's father, former President Hafez al-Assad, was felled. The statues were carried away, possibly for scrap metal. The removal of the images offered catharsis for millions, echoing the fall of other dictatorships, such as that of Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq. More than three months on, visual remnants of the regime linger, partly torn, burned or painted over. They are stop-gap measures until a more thorough clearing can occur. Some have even been repurposed as a kind of floor mat, allowing Syrians to step on the face of a president who had once seemed invulnerable. Outside the Umayyad Mosque in the Old City of Damascus on a recent morning, Aamir al-Haj Omar, 39, a member of a civil defense group, scanned the group, known as the White Helmets, is working to remove all of the remaining images of the Assad family.'There is a psychological effect of these images,' Mr. al-Haj Omar said. 'The images of the regime still strike fear in the hearts of Syrians.' The remnants of statues have become backdrops for photos, visual markers of how so much has changed. In Aleppo, children climb atop the horse that once carried Bassel al-Assad. Some scramble onto a concrete base that once held a bust of his father. In a Damascus suburb, smiling families pose in front of the damaged head of a statue that once instilled terror. At a criminal security building in Damascus, a poster of Bashar al-Assad high up on the wall has been torched, erasing much of his face. But the words at the bottom are still legible: 'criminal security forces.' Workers will need a large ladder or crane to get it down. The painstaking process of removing all of the images could still take months. But to Mr. al-Haj Omar, it is worth it. 'The security grip that people were living under was because of these symbols of the regime,' he said. 'We want them to forget this feeling and experience optimism.'
Shafaq News
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
War debris, landmines stop Syrians from returning
Shafaq News/ Landmines remain the primary obstacle preventing displaced families in Syria from returning to their homes and reviving agricultural and economic activity, the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) said on Tuesday. The director of the Community Resilience Support Program Ali Mohammed told Shafaq News that the organization launched a new operational campaign titled 'Hope for the Returnees: Toward a Safe Return for the Displaced' following political changes in Syria and the collapse of the Assad regime. Hope for Returnees: Toward a Safe Return for the DisplacedA White Helmets campaign to revive areas devastated by attacks on civilians by the Syrian regime and Russia, making it safer for civilians to return by clearing roads, removing war debris, recovering the deceased, and… — The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) December 5, 2024 The campaign began on January 1 in western Aleppo and eastern Idlib, expanding across other provinces based on geographic priorities, he pointed out, revealing that between December 1, 2024, and the end of February 2025, the teams reopened over 1.56 million meters of blocked roads and cleared more than 30,000 cubic meters of rubble. There are three types of road blockages across Syria. The first includes roads unintentionally closed due to airstrikes or military operations; most of these, whether primary or secondary roads, have been reopened, particularly in cities behind former frontlines in provinces like Idlib, Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, Damascus, , Homs, and Quneitra, Mohammed explained. The second type involves roads sealed off with dirt berms rigged with landmines, which cannot be cleared without dedicated demining operations. The third includes roads inside urban areas closed with concrete barriers, many of which have been removed in coordination with local councils. Areas that remain difficult to access, according to the Syrian official, include northeastern and eastern Aleppo countryside—previously controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces—as well as parts of western and southern Aleppo, Idlib and Hama country sides, damaged towns in Damascus countryside, and neighborhoods in Damascus (such as Jobar and Yarmouk), Homs, Latakia, Daraa, and Deir ez-Zor. Over 600 people, including children, have been killed or injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war across Syria since December 2024, according to Human Rights Watch.
