The UK has long supported the Syrian Civil Defence (also known as the White Helmets) in their vital work to facilitate humanitarian access, conduct search and rescue operations, and enable the safe removal of unexploded weapons. We are proud of this partnership and remain committed to supporting the White Helmets during its transition into the Syrian Government's Ministry for Emergency and Disaster Relief. In the financial year 2025/26, the UK has committed £2.25 million of support for them to provide emergency civil protection services and community resilience activities.

UK funding to the Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets) since their formation in 2014 totals £55.6 million. By financial year this support is:

FY 2014-2015 £2,375,287

FY 2015-2016 £12,171,537

FY 2016-2017 £10,471,689

FY 2017-2018 £13,401,000

FY 2018-2019 £7,515,117

FY 2019-2020 £1,936,856

FY 2020-2021 £1,078,826

FY 2021-2022 £2,280,544

In the current Financial Year, 2022-2023, the UK is providing £2.5 million of support to the White Helmets. Since the devastating impacts of the earthquake in Syria, the UK has released an additional £4.3 million to White Helmets to assist their vital search and rescue operation and recovery efforts. The UK is proud of our longstanding partnership with the White Helmets who consistently play a crucial role in supporting Syrian civilians in the most desperate circumstances.

The UK provided £716,000 from the Conflict Stability and Security Fund to the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, in the Financial Year 2019/2020. This funding has supported the White Helmets' emergency search and rescue work in Idlib. We assess that allegations linking the White Helmets to terrorist groups are baseless and are part of a concerted disinformation campaign by the Syrian regime and Russia seeking to undermine the White Helmets' valuable work.

We coordinate closely with likeminded partners, particularly on co-funded programmes. Decisions regarding the Netherlands' programme funding are a matter for the Government of the Netherlands.

​We will continue our support to the White Helmets in Idlib. In a statement on 22 January, the White Helmets made clear that recent changes in control in Idlib had not affected their ability to continue their humanitarian work with independence and neutrality. As with all our work, we have extensive controls in place to ensure that our aid reaches those who need it and that it does not benefit extremists or terrorist groups.

​We assess these claims, made by the Russian state, to be baseless and absurd. The concerted Russian disinformation campaign, including insinuations about the White Helmets, is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the appalling crimes of the Asad regime, including its repeated use of chemical weapons.

​The UK has provided £38 million from the Conflict Pool and its successor, the Conflict Stability and Security Fund, to support the White Helmets over the past five years. This assistance, delivered through trusted third party implementers as part of a coordinated international programme of assistance, has provided training and equipment to support the White Helmets’ vital civil defence work.

The number of 115,000 lives saved is compiled by Syria Civil Defence (SCD), popularly known as the White Helmets, based on operational reports from the SCD volunteer teams and corroborated with video evidence, airstrike data and other reporting from multiple sources including human rights organisations. The number is indeed supported by Mayday Rescue, which is funded by the UK and other donors to provide support to the SCD's work. The UK and other donors also commission independent third party monitoring of the SCD's work in Syria.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK will be in line with the established UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees. Our prime concern for those coming to the UK under our resettlement schemes is their safety and protection as they arrive in this country. We believe that one way to protect their privacy and support their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available.

Notwithstanding this the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK will be in line with the established UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees. Our prime concern for those coming to the UK under our resettlement schemes is their safety and protection as they arrive in this country. We believe that one way to protect their privacy and support their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available.

Notwithstanding this the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK will be in line with the established UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees. Our prime concern for those coming to the UK under our resettlement schemes is their safety and protection as they arrive in this country. We believe that one way to protect their privacy and support their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available.

Notwithstanding this the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK will be in line with the established UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees. Our prime concern for those coming to the UK under our resettlement schemes is their safety and protection as they arrive in this country. We believe that one way to protect their privacy and support their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available.

Notwithstanding this the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics

We take the security of our resettlement process extremely seriously. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for consideration, they are carefully screened and considered for suitability for entry to the UK. We take the utmost care to ensure that those people coming here undergo rigorous vetting. We retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK would be in line with the established UNHCR process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees where resettlement is the most appropriate durable solution for their circumstances and only where the eligibility criteria for our schemes is met.

We take the security of our resettlement process extremely seriously. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for consideration, they are carefully screened and considered for suitability for entry to the UK. We take the utmost care to ensure that those people coming here undergo rigorous vetting.

As with all refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, funding would be allocated to local authorities on a per capita basis, with tariff amounts and payment terms clearly set-out in the scheme’s funding instructions. The first 12 months of a refugee's resettlement costs are funded by central government using the Official Development Assistance budget. There is also an exceptional cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees.

In addition to the costs of staff time associated with facilitating the departure of White Helmets personnel and dependents from Syria we have agreed, with partners, to cover the costs of their transportation and temporary stay in Jordan through the relevant UN agencies, as necessary. We are not yet in a position to estimate the final UK contribution.

As with all refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, funding would be allocated to local authorities on a per capita basis, with tariff amounts and payment terms clearly set-out in the scheme’s funding instructions. There is also an exceptional cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees.

We take the security of our resettlement process extremely seriously. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for consideration, they are carefully screened and considered for suitability for entry to the UK. We take the utmost care to ensure that those people coming here undergo rigorous vetting.

Together with international partners, the UK is working to resettle members of the White Helmets and their families. Any resettlement to the UK would be in line with the established UNHCR process for identifying and resettling the most vulnerable refugees where resettlement is the most appropriate durable solution for their circumstances and only where the eligibility criteria for our schemes is met.

We take the security of our resettlement process extremely seriously. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for consideration, they are carefully screened and considered for suitability for entry to the UK. We take the utmost care to ensure that those people coming here undergo rigorous vetting.

As with all refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, funding would be allocated to local authorities on a per capita basis, with tariff amounts and payment terms clearly set-out in the scheme’s funding instructions. The first 12 months of a refugee's resettlement costs are funded by central government using the Official Development Assistance budget. There is also an exceptional cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees.