Syria's White Helmets Rescuers Will Not Attend Oscars
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Rescue workers from Syria's White Helmets group -- the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary -- will not attend this weekend's Academy Awards ceremony because of intensified regime bombing and a rejected passport.
Raed Saleh and fellow White Helmet member Khaled Khatib had been set to attend Sunday's ceremony in Hollywood, where "The White Helmets" is shortlisted for best short documentary.
"After 3days at airport, not allowed to travel to #oscars2017 - had U.S. visa - but passport not accepted. Sad, but important work to do here," Khatib tweeted Saturday from Istanbul.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel said that "individuals need valid documents to travel to the United States," declining to comment further.
Earlier, Saleh told AFP he wasn't going because of a heavy workload "due to intensified regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs."
"There are many things that have to be done on the ground, such as managing operations and providing emergency vehicles," he added.
Khatib, who shot much of the footage, had obtained a U.S. visa but cited the same reasons earlier for not traveling.
"I won't travel to OSCAR due to intensity of work, our priority is helping our people," he tweeted in English.
"I was going to leave on Tuesday, but there was too much work because of the bombing," Khatib told AFP by telephone.
"I'm also working on producing another film about the White Helmets that has to be ready in two weeks. I will not go."
The two rescuers had feared they could be barred from attending the ceremony because of U.S. President Donald Trump's late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria.
The ban has since been lifted by a U.S. federal court, and on February 18 the pair received their visas.
More than 310,000 people have died since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, and more than half of the country's citizens have been forced to flee their homes.
Since the White Helmets group was created in 2013, it has hired more than 3,000 volunteers and claims to have saved more than 78,000 lives.
It takes its name from the protective headgear worn by its members.
26 February 2017, 15:27
83
The US regime knows better than to let these terrorist worms in their country. They'll support them from a distance, throw some bones to the dogs outside, but no way they let them inside the house.
26 February 2017, 21:58
24
Mowaten safawi ... You always need to spew your propaganda. Good job. Keep supporting the monster of the decade.
27 February 2017, 10:49
20
buzz off troll, may the "monster of the decade" eat you in your sleep
26 February 2017, 22:14
51
White Helmets, the fake humanitarians and the mask of Al Qaeda.
26 February 2017, 22:32
14
Mythbeliever .... No one believes your lies and those of your ilk on this site anymore. Shame on you.
26 February 2017, 19:30
36
Oscars have a new award and you should win it hands down : The Golden Takiah Globe Award.
26 February 2017, 20:33
33
funny you should say that ya heretic. When I was watching the videos of the explosions in dahieh and the tens of people dead and shredded I thought the same: special effects, fake blood, and people pretending to be dead.
26 February 2017, 22:00
23
Yes I did watch it on Netflix and it is devastating. And smear as you wish to make your masters in Qom, you can never hope to achieve the level of humanity of these courageous men.
27 February 2017, 00:04
13
and who funds your hezbollah yellow helmets and their 'humanitarian charitable' organizations? what a pathetic loser...
