22 July 2018•Update: 22 July 2018
By Laith Joneidi
AMMAN
Jordan has allowed the UN to organize the passage of some 800 members of the White Helmets civil defense agency for humanitarian reasons, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.
According to a Saturday statement, ministry spokesman Mohamed al-Kayed said Amman responded to a request to allow the 800 Syrians into the country temporarily to be resettled later in the West.
Three Western countries - Britain, Germany and Canada – made a legally binding pledge to resettle the 800 Syrians within a specified period of time "because of a risk to their lives", al-Kayed said, without elaborating.
“These Syrian citizens who were working in the civil defense fled the areas controlled by the Syrian opposition after attack by the Syrian army in those areas," he said.
The spokesman went on to say that Syrians will remain for maximum three months in Jordan and their passage process is being organized by the UN only.
Details on the location of the 800 Syrians were not disclosed nor the process and time of transferring them from Syria to Jordan.
Last month, Syrian regime forces launched a wide-ranging military operation -- supported by Russian air power – to recapture the opposition-held Daraa province, triggering a major displacement crisis, with an estimated 350,000 civilians fleeing the province towards areas near the Jordanian border.
Since June 2016, Jordan has closed its border with Syria after bombings that left seven Jordanian soldiers dead.
