Who are the White Helmets? Syria Civil Defence explained, how to help and donate to earthquake rescue efforts

Syria’s White Helmets first made the leap from bakers, tailors, pharmacists, and engineers to search and rescue personnel more than a decade ago.

But rather than pulling civilians from the rubble of buildings levelled by aerial bombing in the Syrian civil war, volunteers from the well-known local humanitarian group have sprung into action to rescue survivors of Monday’s deadly earthquakes.

Turkey and Syria were hit by two magnitude 7 earthquakes on 6 February, which have claimed at least 11,000 lives. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that number is likely to keep climbing, with as many as 23 million people affected in some way across the wider area.

In war-torn Syria, the quakes have reportedly caused at least 1,500 deaths and even more injuries in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. The United Nations was  “exploring all avenues” to get supplies to rebel-held north-western Syria, where millions live in extreme poverty and rely on humanitarian aid to survive. In the meantime, the White Helmets have stepped up to help.

Who are the White Helmets?

The White Helmets - also known as Syria Civil Defence - is a group of more than 2,900 volunteers from all walks of life, formed in the wake of the Syrian Civil War escalation in 2012.

The group is best known for organising search and rescue operations in communities impacted by bombing in the ongoing conflict, and members claim to have saved more than 125,000 lives from under the rubble of aerial attacks.

The White Helmets help rescue people on all sides of the conflict, but say members have been targeted by the Syrian regime and Russia, with 293 volunteers killed in the line of duty - around half of them in deliberately targeted attacks.

Where do they operate?

The White Helmets focus primarily on the Syrian neighbourhoods worst affected by the ongoing civil war. That includes many under-siege and rebel-held cities in the Middle Eastern nation’s northwest, like Aleppo - which are also some of the hardest hit by Monday’s earthquakes.

How did they come about?

Unrest in Syria grew in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring movement, with a wave of protests against the Bashar al-Assad’s government - whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971 - taking place across the country. Many of these were violently suppressed, and the protests developed into an armed rebellion.

The Syrian Civil War has raged for more than a decade now, but fighting began to escalate in 2012 when the Syrian government began aerial attacks against neighbourhoods no longer under its control. Essential civil services like firefighting were also withdrawn from those areas.

The White Helmets say they formed as a response to this. Initially a grassroots group, volunteers also provide services like firefighting, removing unexploded weapons, maintaining electricity and sewerage, rehabilitating neighbourhoods, and helping with community safety awareness to this day.

How can you support them from the UK?

People who would like to help can support the White Helmets by making a direct donation on their website. The group has also launched a GoFundMe to specifically fund its earthquake response.