Amid years of chaos, destruction and a bloody civil war in Syria, emerged a group of rescue and search workers known as the White Helmets. Founded in late 2012 early 2013, the White Helmets describe themselves as “former tailors, bakers, teachers, painters” and other blue-collar workers and ordinary Syrian men and women who had come together to form the “Syria Civil Defence” also known as (aka) the “White Helmets.”

That despite the presence and operations (since the 1950’s) of the government civil defence organisation (Syria Civil Defence) operating across the country. With its nearly “3,000 members,” the White Helmets operate only in “rebel-held” areas across Syria to rescue civilians trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Despite claiming to be “a non-partisan organisation” the White Helmets was established by former British army officer James Le Mesurier – a veteran of “NATO interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo” – and trained by the “Turkish AKUT Search and Rescue Association.”

The group also “receives millions of dollars in financial support and funding (through Mayday Rescue and Chemonics) from the governments of the UK, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Canada, New Zealand and the USA”. Funding it says “goes towards the training, equipment and support needed to achieve their mission.”

Publicly acknowledged, the US State Department has given the White Helmets via Chemonics – “a for-profit contractor based in Washington DC” – “$23 million from 2013 to March 2016.” The British government also supplied “£38.4 million” in aid to the White Helmets as of March 2018.

In April 2018, Donald Trump‘s administration “suspended the funding to the White Helmets.” However, in June 2018 Trump’s administration “reversed its decision to suspend funding for the White Helmets and released about $6.6 million in aid to the group.” A “move” that has been “strongly condemned by the Syrian government” calling on the US to halt its financing and support for terrorism.

Humanitarian NGO in disguise

Despite claiming to be neutral and objective in carrying out its operations and “saving people on all sides of the conflict”, the White Helmets have been accused of being affiliated and embedded with “hard-line extremists and sectarian armed groups in occupying Syria” serving as the logistical and propaganda arm of  (Syria’s Al Qaeda branch) and other extremist groups such as “Nour Al Din Zinki, Jaish Al Islam and ISIS”, and operating exclusively in “rebel-held” areas across Syria.

Fuelled by reports that the White Helmets are “paid mercenaries” affiliated with terrorist groups such as Al Nusra Front aka Jabhat Fateh Al Sham have led critics to question their “role and operations” in carrying out and “facilitating executions of civilians and military personnel”, “celebrating alongside terrorists over dead bodies”, “covering up opposition war crimes”, enabling “border organ trafficking operations and child abduction”, posing as fighters with artillery,”faking chemical attacks“, waving Al Qaeda and ISIS flags, “faking rescue operations, using crisis actors”, staging bodies, fabricating evidence and “using children – both dead and alive – as props for producing pro-intervention propaganda.”

The Syrian and Russian governments have accused the White Helmets of being trained agents linked to “Al Qaeda terrorists and Islamist insurgents” lobbying foreign military intervention aimed at “toppling the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.”

Chemical attack

The founding of the White Helmets coincides with the West losing military front regarding the push for regime change and foreign military intervention in Syria. Moreover, the group’s founding took place just after the Syrian government had raised initial concerns about a “terrorist chemical weapon attack in Khan Al Asal against the Syrian Army.”

Since then, the White Helmets have been “advocating further US intervention in the form of a No-Fly Zone (NFZ) in Syria (as the preamble to regime change) claiming to possess first-hand knowledge of chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government, acting as both witnesses and responders to events that were later proven to be staged work of armed opposition groups.”

Footage of “alleged chemical attacks” documented by the White Helmets were used by the “United Nations (UN), International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)” to issue reports holding the Syrian and Russian regimes responsible for the chemical weapons attack. An accusation strongly refuted by Damascus and Moscow describing it “illogical and deliberately staged by militants.”

Precisely, the White Helmets’ “chemical attacks videos” were timed to promote calls by western governments for direct military intervention in Syria.

On April 7, 2017, the White Helmets “staged a false flag chemical attack” on Khan Sheikhoun “which prompted a US missile attack on the Sharyat Air Base in Syria.” In April 2018, “another fake nerve agent attack in Douma” – later revealed as “a hoax by the OPCW” – , nonetheless “resulted in over one hundred missile strikes by the USA, UK and France against Syria.”

Both Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly accused the White Helmets of “staging and fabricating chemical weapons attacks” to frame the Syrian government and justify a pretext for Western air strikes against Syria.”

Evacuation and resettlement

In June 2018, a large-scale operation was carried out by Syrian government forces to “regain control of strategic territory” – once-held by rebel forces – in “southwestern Syria bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.” Backed by a Russian-brokered peace deal, rebel forces agreed to surrender and withdraw from Deraa and Quneitra provinces in Southern Syria.

As government forces advanced and took control of vast swathes of territory in the south west of the country, hundreds of White Helmets members and their families have fled near the Israeli border with the Golan Heights.

According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) “400 Syrians affiliated with the White Helmets and their families were evacuated from Quneitra through Israel to Jordan,” following a request by the US, the UK, Canada and its European allies.

“The evacuees were transferred, through the Golan Heights, to Jordan, from where they are to be resettled as refugees in the UK, Canada and Germany.”

A statement by Russia’s Permanent Mission to the European Union (EU) said that the evacuation operation of White Helmets’ members from Syria “proves that their Western sponsors were eager to prevent possible disclosure and exposure of the notorious provocative activities and crimes committed by the White Helmets.”

L'articolo Who Really Are the Syrian White Helmets? proviene da InsideOver.

Amid the incoherence and instability across the Arab world, one thing has remained constant – the human cost of war.

Years of conflict in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya have plagued the lives of millions of Arab citizens and jeopardized the future of entire generations.

Distraught and traumatized generations of Arab youths and children have been bearing the brunt and psychological toll of unwarranted, brutal wars and devastating fallouts in their countries.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) nearly 70 million people, over half of whom are children are uprooted from their normal lives due to sectarian violence and raging civil wars in their countries.

Desperately fleeing bloodshed violence and relentless armed conflicts, thousands of families have been displaced and driven from their hometowns seeking refuge in nearby countries or abroad. Deprived of their basic rights, millions of impoverished and malnourished Arab refugee youths and children are growing up in fractured families, denied access to education and healthcare, and forced to work to survive.

Weaponizing of children

The results of raging conflicts and escalating violence in the Middle East have been catastrophic with detrimental effects on children and youths who remain highly vulnerable to grave violations, abuse and exploitation.

Scarred by extreme levels of violence and horrific atrocities, children have been the most egregious victims of raging conflicts, living in constant fear with haunting memories for the rest of their lives.

From widespread killing, maiming, abduction, rape, sexual violence and armed recruitment, children living in war-torn zones continue to come under direct attack at alarming scales. Above all, refugee and displaced children and youths face heightened risks of trafficking due to their economic and social vulnerability and lack of security and protection.

Accordingly, they fall as victims to exploitation and recruitment by terrorist and criminal groups. Several reports by non-government organisations (NGO’s) indicate that tens of thousands of displaced girls and boys have suffered the horrors of kidnapping, recruitment into armed groups, sexual exploitation, forced labour and early marriages.

Caught up in tragic war consequences and bearing psychological burdens from witnessing war horrors, thousands of parentless, homeless and stateless children must confront and work through the loss of family members, their homeland, and their own identity.

After experiencing such immense trauma and stress, these young generations of terror, fear and suffering are caught up between a life of despair and revenge and a future of hope. There’s no doubt that repairing the psychological damage and rebuilding the lives of millions of vulnerable children is challenging but nevertheless possible to avoid creating hopeless and disempowered lost generations.

Born stateless

Another disturbing symptom of the crisis in the Middle East is the lack of registration and documentation of babies born in exile to refugee parents.

In war-torn countries, births to Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Yemeni nationals often go unregistered due to missing identity documents, security threats, or legal or logistical barriers. Several host countries also fail to register new-born children in refugee camps.

This can result in serious consequences, including exposure to violence and exploitation, risk of statelessness, difficulty accessing healthcare and education, and quandary in crossing borders, voluntary return, and proving citizenship on return.

Road to refuge

Apart from being traumatised by the conflicts and violence they are fleeing, generations of Arab youths and children – turned refugees are enduring sorrowful lives suffering from fear, exclusion, and insecurity.

As they venture somewhere in pursuit of a better life, vulnerable children and youths embark on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean en-route to Europe, only to find new dangers and challenges awaiting.

According to a 2016 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) entitled “Danger Every Step of the Way”, unaccompanied children and minors account for a large percentage of migrants and refugees on the move, often facing terrible threats such as rape, trafficking, sexual exploitation, beatings, forced labour and even murder. Some children also go missing and end up becoming targets of criminal organisations and traffickers. Moreover, the report highlights xenophobia, stigmatization, and discrimination acts against refugee and migrant children.

Precarious future

Witnessing their past and future fade amidst the debris and destruction of long-drawn-out conflicts lies the tragedy and suffering of young Arabs, who are at a risk of becoming lost generations.
Despite their courage and aspirations, these war generations have been stripped of the chance to grow, develop and fulfil their potential. Yet, this current generational effect of displacement will last for decades, as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are faced with lost generations.

L'articolo Arab Generations Lost to Wars and Conflicts proviene da InsideOver.

Three months of ongoing anti-government protests in Sudan and still there are no signs of embattled 75-year-old President Omar Al Bashir stepping down.

Triggered by a new round of austerity measures, the current wave of protests began last year on December 19 in the eastern city of Atbara with near daily protests quickly spreading to the capital Khartoum and other cities across the country. It is the most sustained challenge faced by President Al Bashir since he came to power in the 1989 coup d’état.

Thousands of disgruntled and frustrated demonstrators have taken took to the streets to vent their anger against the tripling of bread prices, devaluation of the local currency as well as cash and fuel shortages. They are calling for an end to Al Bashir’s three-decade rule, accusing him of mismanagement, corruption which has lead to the country’s crumbling economy, where overall inflation has risen to nearly 70 per cent and costs of some goods and basic commodities have more than doubled.

The main bloc leading the protests is the Sudanese Professional Association (SPA) – an umbrella group of independent professional unions, middle-class workers, women, students, youths and political opposition activists who have been echoing the popular slogans of the 2011 uprisings which toppled governments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

However, protests in Sudan have received comparably little attention and limited coverage in international media, leaving protesters to resort to social media platforms to get their news trending globally.

Rights groups and activists say that police fired tear gas canisters, flares, and stun grenades to quash and disperse protests, which left scores of protesters injured and killed during riots and clashes with security forces.

Hundreds of protesters were also been arrested and jailed, including political activists, women leaders and opposition figures.

Schools and universities have been closed and curfews imposed in some regions. Newspapers have been censored or shut down. Internet access had been disrupted in an effort to block social media platforms and contain the protests, but blocks have since been lifted.

In an attempt to end months of ongoing demonstrations against his rule, President Al Bashir imposed a state of emergency, banning unlicensed public gatherings and authorizing the setup of emergency courts. He also disbanded the government, replacing state governors with military generals.

Al Bashir also stepped down as the head of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) postponing constitutional amendments that would have allowed him to seek another term in the upcoming 2020 presidential election.

He acknowledged the economic hardships that triggered the protests, promising economic reforms and the release of political prisoners, but blamed this unrest on infiltrators and foreign agents instigating dissent and inciting havoc in the country.

Meanwhile, undeterred protesters continue to defy the state of emergency, mobilizing more demonstrations across the country, along with calls for strikes and civil disobedience, vowing to continue until President Al Bashir has been ousted and the downfall of the ruling NCP has been achieved.

A troubled economy

Since seizing power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, Sudan, under Al Bashir’s rule has endured famine, conflict and a civil war that led to the secession of South Sudan – home to large oil reserves – in 2011. Since losing three quarters of its oil output – its main source of foreign capital – the country has been in difficult economic situation.

Its economy has also been strained also by over 20 years of imposed US sanctions, stemming for accusations that the country has been sponsoring terrorism, having accused Al Bashir of committing war crimes against humanity.

In 2010, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Al Bashir for genocide and extermination in Darfur and issued an arrest warrant against him.

In 2017, Sudan was removed from the United States’ travel ban list. Economic sanctions were also lifted in recognition of the government’s efforts in countering terrorism, providing humanitarian aid in South Sudan, reducing migration towards Europe and for sending thousands of Sudanese soldiers to take part in the US-backed war in Yemen.

A broader context

Sudan has a long history of grassroots uprisings and successful revolutions against military regimes, most notably in 1964 and in 1985.

In 2011 and 2013, the country also witnessed sporadic bread riots after the scraping of subsidies.

However, unlike previous events, protests this time did not begin in the capital Khartoum. There are also a lot more people on the streets, including various political opposition factions and figures rallying around the protesters, who stress that their uprising is not just mere spontaneous riots against rising bread prices and a failing economy, but the root meaning is much deeper, blaming Al Bashir for the marginalization of their country and economic mismanagement.

Despite chanting slogans like “the people want the downfall of the regime” similar to ones from 2011 uprisings, activists and protesters say that this revolution is distinguished from similar events in 2011, where the Islamist forces were key drivers and mobilizers against authoritarian regimes. However, in Sudan, the Islamists are in power and the uprising is led by professional association members and union workers against their authoritative regime.

Likely scenario

Few expect Sudan’s current uprising to force Al Bashir to concede power any time soon, as considering that the ongoing protests have yet to force any such reaction.

However, the context has become somewhat different – challenged by the ongoing unrest, Al Bashir’s regime has clearly been brought into question.

Analysts say that the downfall of Al Bashir is not an impending outcome. It all depends on maintaining pressure on the government through the ongoing resistance movements on the streets, and what seems a likely coup against President Al Bashir.

L'articolo What the People in Sudan are Protesting proviene da InsideOver.