‘Don’t rely’ on Ottawa for help to escape Iran war, feds tell Canadians – National
Canadians in the Middle East are being told to make “no-trust” plans for the Canadian Government as the US and Israel-Iran war escalates.
About 97,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents are registered in the region, Global Affairs Canada said Tuesday.
Canadians are told to “avoid all travel” to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen and avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
“Our capacity to provide consular services to Canadians during the current conflict is limited, which is critical to the provision of essential services such as the processing of travel documents,” the GAC said in an update Tuesday morning.
“Canadians in the affected country should prepare emergency plans that do not rely on Canadian government assistance to evacuate,” the ministry said.
The update added, however, that GAC will share information with Canadians registered in the region as soon as flights and/or land crossings become available.
As of Tuesday, the GAC said it was not aware of any Canadians being injured or killed as a result of the clashes.
The actual number of Canadians in the region is likely higher, as registration with the GAC is voluntary.
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Iran alone had nearly 3,000 Canadians registered with the GAC, but the highest number was in the United Arab Emirates (24,594).
The GAC sends regular updates to registered Canadians and urges them to stay aware of these messages and follow the advice of local officials.
The US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Iran’s subsequent retaliation have caused international aviation disruptions.
Tens of thousands of people are trapped in the Middle East as the war against Iran spreads across the region.
Air Canada has canceled flights to Israel and Dubai until March 22, with service to resume on March 23.
“We are monitoring the situation and will adjust our schedule accordingly,” the airline said.
European, Asian countries are coming out
Several countries in Europe and Asia have begun evacuating their citizens from the affected regions.
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger announced that the return flight carrying the Austrians would depart on Wednesday from the Omani capital Muscat. The minister said the first evacuation flight carrying “high risk people” had already taken off on Sunday.
About 18,000 Austrian citizens are registered in the region, authorities said.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene also said that her country will begin the evacuation of “the most vulnerable groups of Lithuanian citizens” from the United Arab Emirates and other surrounding states.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland has prepared flights to evacuate in case the situation worsens in the region.
He estimated that there are 14,000 Polish citizens in the United Arab Emirates, and a total of 400,000 people from the EU there.
More than 480 Polish citizens have already managed to leave Israel, Jordan and Lebanon, Tusk said.
South Korean officials say they have deported 62 people from Israel to Egypt by bus, following the earlier deportation of 23 Koreans from Iran.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had also deported four Americans of Korean descent from Israel.
Thailand will evacuate 300 citizens from Iran, including its officials there, to Turkey.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that the evacuees are expected to be taken to a town on the Turkish border as soon as possible before flying back to Thailand.
Thai officials said there are about 100,000 Thais living and working in the Middle East, including 60,000 Thai citizens in Israel.
The prime minister said about 1,000 Thai citizens in the United Arab Emirates have registered for repatriation and can fly back on regular commercial flights. However, the government will also prepare to evacuate its citizens to other countries if the airspace is closed.
-via files from the Associated Press
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