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State Dept Halts Funding for Famed Syrian Humanitarian Group
The civil war and destruction of Syria has been going on since 2011. As of April 2018, nearly 6 million Syrians have fled the country. The destruction is so widespread and society in such ruins that there's no reliable count of lives lost but estimates in 2016 were that 400,000 lives were lost, let alone how many thousands more during the past two years.
The United States has now halted funding to the most well-known humanitarian group in Syria known as the "white helmets." Trump's State Department, under newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are working hard to make this world a worse place.
The State Department has reportedly frozen funding for a humanitarian group working in Syria, threatening the group’s effectiveness..... the State Department has put funding for the White Helmets group under "active review" as it determines which foreign aid programs to continue funding.
Most of us were not familiar with the White Helmet group until now.
The White Helmets, formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, are a group of 3,000 volunteer rescuers that have saved thousands of lives since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. A makeshift 911, they have run into the collapsing buildings to pull children, men and women out of danger's way. They say they have saved more than 70,000 lives.
The White Helmets have essentially served as emergency responders in the war-torn country.
No funding equals more lost lives.
Having not received U.S. funding in recent weeks, White Helmets are questioning what this means for the future. They have received no formal declaration from the U.S. government that the monetary assistance has come to a full halt, but the group's people on the ground in Syria report that their funds have been cut off.
The group has an "emergency plan" if the funding is halted for one or two months -- but they are worried about the long-term freeze. "If this is a long-term or permanent halt, it would have a serious impact on our ability to provide the same intensity and quality of services that we currently provide to civilians," said Saleh.
This runs counter to recent positive interactions between the U.S. and the group.
Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets [in Washington DC]. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.
"Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020. There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support," Raed Saleh, the group's leader, told CBS News.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has previously called the White Helmets "selfless men" and asked journalists to watch a documentary about their work.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-freezes-funding-for-syrias-white-helmets/
https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/meast/syria-civil-war-fast-facts/index.html