Syria blasts evacuation of White Helmets as 'criminal'

The Syrian government has condemned a multilateral operation to evacuate hundreds of rescue workers from the war-torn country as a "criminal process" intended to destabilise Syria.

Syrian authorities have long described the Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, which are popularly known as the White Helmets, as a terror organisation.

The group rose to prominence as it filmed its operations to rescue civilians from Syrian government air strikes 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 US, Britain, and other nations.

The unprecedented operation was spearheaded by the US, 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 yesterday 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 that "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."