Muted Oscar celebrations for White Helmets as Syria bleeds

Notably, no member of the group was present in Los Angeles on Sunday to pick up the award in the Best Documentary Short category in part due to visa restrictions established by the Trump administration and also due to Damascus' decision to cancel the passports of the filmmakers.

While White Helmet rescue teams endeavoured to rescue civilians in Idlib, elsewhere in Syria on Sunday violence continued unabated in a conflict entering its sixth year, in which hundreds of thousands have lost their lives.

Monitors noted that clashes between regime and opposition troops continued on several fronts, with regime shelling reported in areas including Aleppo and Latakia provinces.

Air raids were also reported in areas of Homs and Hama provinces. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights additionally noted reports from local medical sources in Harasta in East Ghouta, close to Damascus, stating that air raids carried out in the area included the dropping of chemical agents, in signs of a potential chlorine gas attack. 

Representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition are currently sitting down to talks in Geneva towards a political solution to conflict in Syria, and an end to the grotesque levels of violence the country, and its population - 11 million of whom have been displaced from their homes - continues to witness.

However, the atmosphere surrounding the talks, and their capacity to facilitate a transition towards peace, has been pessimistic at best. 

Over 150 White Helmet members have been killed conducting life-saving work in Syria [AFP]

Stalling UN-brokered diplomacy evidenced by former UN chief Ban ki-Moon's frustration with the global body's Security Council members' (in particular Russia, and China's) power to veto potentially life-saving rulings has in many ways come to define the stubborn, intransigence of a bloody conflict, and those actors, both internal and external participating in it.

Commenting on The White Helmets' victory at Sunday's Oscars, its head Raed Saleh expressed gratitude for the recognition bestowed on the group by the award. 

"We are honoured that The White Helmets film has received an Oscar. This film has helped show the world what is happening in Syria and we want to thank our brothers and sisters who stand on the side of life," said Saleh in a statement. 

However, the White Helmets chief, further pointed out that members of the group - over 150 of whom have given their lives in life-saving rescue missions - are not able to view their Oscar victory simply with emotions of joy.

The White Helmets Oscar victory is also a recognition of death and destruction, that global powers have failed to act effectively to curb.

As Saleh noted: "We are not happy with what we do. We abhor the reality we live in. What we want isn't support to continue, but rather support to end this work.

"We hope this film and the attention helps move the world to act to stop the bloodshed in Syria."

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