Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the government is looking at getting Canadians out of the Middle East, including asking the United Arab Emirates to use its airspace for chartered evacuation flights.
“The situation is volatile and changing by the hour,” she said at a last-minute news conference on Wednesday evening.
“In some countries, the airspace is open. In others it is partially open and still others it is fully closed.”
Anand said as of Wednesday morning more than 2,000 Canadians in the region have requested government assistance to leave since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend, sparking retaliatory missile and drone strikes in the Persian Gulf region.
Anand lays out plan to evacuate Canadians from Middle East
She then laid out the, often limited, options for Canadians in the U.A.E., Qatar, Lebanon, Israel and and Iran.
The majority of requests came from the U.A.E., where more than 1,170 Canadians have asked the government for help, the minister said.
“This afternoon, I directed my officials to enter into contracts to charter flights for Canadians. This charter is contingent upon receiving the necessary approvals from the government of the U.A.E. to use their airspace, which we have already requested,” Anand said, adding they hope to get chartered flights in over the next 72 hours.
Flights will be available on “a cost-recovery basis to Canadians,” she said.
The government is also working to block seats on commercial flights, she said.
For the 237 Canadians in Qatar wanting to leave, “there are currently no options to fly in and out,” said Anand.
She said that Qatar Airlines is arranging bus transportation for 200 Canadians, with existing tickets, to an airport in Saudi Arabia for a flight out.
“We are engaging ground transportation for other Canadians also wishing to leave quickly,” the minister said.
In Lebanon, approximately 164 Canadians have asked for assistance. Seventy-five people, not all Canadian, got out on a commercial flight this morning in seats reserved by the government, she said.
“Two hundred more such seats are available over the course of the next three days,” Anand said.
There are some 93 Canadians in Israel looking for assistance, according to the minister.
“For the moment, the government of Israel is operating a bus service to Egypt where passengers can arrange on onward travel to airports that are open and operating normally,” she said.
Canadians “can avail themselves” of those options, Anand said.
In Iran itself, there are almost 3,000 Canadians who have registered with the government and 74 who have requested help leaving.
“Unfortunately, we have no ability to arrange ground transportation in Iran as we do not have diplomatic relations,” she said.
Instead she said consular officials are stationed in neighbouring countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, and can meet Canadians if they cross the border.
Anand said the government is working with other countries about getting Canadians on their flights and vice-versa.
She pointed to the Wednesday flight out of Beirut where the government had blocked 75 seats.
Anand says 74 Canadians in Iran have asked for Ottawa’s help to leave
“Not all of them were filled by Canadians, because we didn’t have the full complement who wanted to leave at the time. And so we were able to offer those seats up. And those countries are doing the exact same thing with us,” she said.
The number of Canadians requesting assistance out of the region is far lower than the number who have registered with Global Affairs Canada.
Earlier in the day, Anand told reporters more than 103,000 Canadians in the Middle East and Gulf states have registered with Global Affairs Canada.
Anand said Canadians in the Middle East should register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) service if they haven’t done so already. Canadians who are looking for help to leave the region can also call 613-996-8885 or email [email protected].
