Dozens of Canadians have managed to go away Iran on their very own by crossing the border into neighbouring countries, government officials said late Wednesday, as Ottawa laid out its regional evacuation options amid a “rapidly” deteriorating situation.
With airspace over much of the Middle East closed because the war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel expands, officials acknowledged during a technical briefing with reporters that “there will not be much we are able to do at this very moment” to get people out of Iran.
Global Affairs Canada is as a substitute surging additional personnel to consulates in countries bordering Iran to offer visa assistance and other must Canadians fleeing the war.
For the remainder of the region, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the federal government was working on plenty of options for getting Canadians out safely, including a “limited number” of chartered flights, block-booking seats on industrial flights, and ground transportation.
“I need to talk directly now to Canadians within the Middle East and Gulf region: your government is with you,” she said.
“We’re working hard for you, and we’re arranging options for you to go away the region.”
A senior official said on background that consulates in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have helped “a few dozen” Canadians in each country who’ve left Iran, while a few half-dozen more have been helped in Turkey and Armenia.
The federal government didn’t have a precise variety of what number of Canadians have left Iran this manner.
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Anand said the federal government was taking a look at chartered flights out of the United Arab Emirates inside the subsequent 72 hours, but no concrete charter provider has been secured.
As of Wednesday, greater than 106,000 Canadian residents and everlasting residents within the Gulf region had registered with Global Affairs Canada, Anand said. The actual number is more likely to be higher since registration with GAC is voluntary.
Iran currently has almost 3,000 Canadians registered with GAC.
Anand said over 2,000 registered Canadians within the Middle East have requested departure assistance, including 74 in Iran, out of over 4,000 Canadians who’ve sought information because the war began Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we’ve no ability to rearrange ground transportation in Iran, as we shouldn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran and we’ve declared the IRGC as a terrorist entity under Canadian law,” the minister said.
Anand said ground transportation is being provided for Canadians wishing to go away Qatar, where airspace is closed. She said 200 Canadians were being provided bus transportation with existing airline tickets to an airport in Saudi Arabia to fly out of that country.
“I do wish to indicate that any ground transportation carries risks,” she added.
Global Affairs Canada said earlier Wednesday it had secured a “limited variety of seats” on industrial flights out of Lebanon for its residents and everlasting residents.
The federal government official on the technical briefing said 75 industrial airline seats were made available Wednesday for Canadians flying out of Beirut to Istanbul. Anand noted the “overwhelming majority” of those seats were filled by Canadians.
2 hundred more seats have been reserved over the subsequent three days, Anand said.
She said Israel was facilitating a bus service to Egypt where flights out of the region can be found.
The federal government official said the closure of airspace within the region makes it “difficult to check” a military evacuation out of the Middle East, but that multiple options remained on the table.
“To be clear, the situation is volatile and unpredictable” and “changing by the hour,” Anand said.
“Sheltering in place is the final advice across the board. And if Canadians wish to go away, we’re setting up options for them to achieve this, and people options are tailored to the actual country and are based to some extent on whether that country has open airspace by which flights can leave the region.”
Anand said she was in touch with allies including Australia and the UK to see if additional assistance could be provided to Canadians wishing to go away the region.
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