‘The White Helmets,’ volunteer civil defence film in Syria wins Oscar

‘The White Helmets’ won the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short. The film documents the work of the Syria Civil Defence a volunteer organisation which operates in rebel held areas in SyriaThe world stands with the white helmets. – Standing ovation at the Oscars. We have won. Thank you all for your support.#Oscars  pic.twitter.com/yK5rDClsSu— Khaled Khatib (@995Khaled) February 27, 2017 The group offers emergency assistance to those injured in shelling or trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings. The leader is Raed Saleh:“On behalf of all the White Helmet volunteers in Syria, I would like to thank you for giving us this great award, which will help give all our volunteers the moral support to continue rescuing civilians in Syria.” Raed Saleh was due to attend the Oscars, but remained in Syria as the bombing intensifies. Syrian cinematographer and member of the White Helmets), Khaled Khatib, was unable to travel to the ceremony after the Department of Homeland Security denied him entry into the US after receiving “derogatory information” about him. The Syrian regime had cancelled his passport.