The Oscar for best short documentary was won by the documentary on Syrian volunteer group ‘White Helmets’ officially known as ‘Syrian Civil Defense’.
Raed Saleh, who is the leader of the White Helmets, was unable to attend the academy awards but his message & statement was read by the directors of the documentary.
[junkie-alert style=”green”] Saleh quoted a Quranic verse saying ‘Our organization is guided by a verse of Quran ‘’To save one life, is to save all of humanity.’ We have saved more than 82,000 Syrian lives. I invite anyone here who hears me to work on the side of life to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world.” [/junkie-alert]
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) February 27, 2017
White helmets with their 3,000 volunteers are the first one to reach the site of aerial bombardment. On many occasions Syrian & Russian forces hit the same place twice which results in deaths & injury of many volunteers. It is estimated that 1 in 6 volunteers have been killed or injured during the Syrian war.
The volunteers are not paid enough because of lack of funds and only receive a stipend of $150 (Rs. 15,000 in Pakistani Currency). Yet they work to save the lives of the people and have preferred to live in war zones rather than migrated to other areas.