The Syrian Civil Defense Corps on Monday honored 50 members who got injured operating in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo in a ceremony held in the town of Maaret Alnouman in rural Idlib on Monday.
Deputy-Director of the Syrian civil defense Munir Mustafa said that the 50 members were injured while carrying out search and rescue operations and recovering people from under the rubble of bombed houses and buildings. He noted that the injuries varied from medium to serious.
The injured rescue workers were presented with white helmets, the symbol of the rescue group in addition to a certificate of appreciation and a cash reward.
A film documenting the struggle of Syria’s civil defense group, also known as the White Helmets, won the Oscar for best short documentary in February of this year. The rescue group also made it to the finals of the ‘Arab Hope Maker Award’ in Dubai, the UAE on May 18.
The White Helmets was also nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. In November 2016, the group was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, in the Swedish capital Stockholm. The Right Livelihood Award Foundation praised the White Helmets “for their outstanding bravery, compassion and humanitarian engagement in rescuing civilians.”
The civil defense corps works as an independent organization to aid the wounded, recover the bodies of the dead, and document deaths across Syria. Its centers have been a constant target for the Assad regime and Russian air forces which killed and injured many rescue workers. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
