Syria's White Helmets will not attend Oscars
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 US visa - but passport not accepted. Sad, but important work to do here," Khatib tweeted Saturday from Istanbul.
US 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.".
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.
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