Canadians in the Middle East are being told to make plans that “don’t rely” on the Government of Canada as the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran escalates.
There are roughly 97,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents registered in the region, Global Affairs Canada said on Tuesday.
Canadians are being 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 to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
“Our ability to provide consular services to Canadians during an active conflict is limited, with priority given to provision of essential services such as the processing of travel documents,” GAC said in a Tuesday morning update.
“Canadians in an affected country should prepare contingency plans that don’t rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for departure,” the department added.
The update added, however, that GAC will share information with Canadians registered in the region as soon as air travel and/or land crossings are available.
As of Tuesday, GAC said it was not aware of any Canadians who have been injured or killed because of the hostilities.
The actual number of Canadians in the region is likely higher, since registration with GAC is voluntary.
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Iran alone had almost 3,000 Canadians registered with GAC, but the highest number was in the United Arab Emirates (24,594).
GAC sends regular updates to registered Canadians and urges them to remain alert to these messages and to follow the advice of local officials.
The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran and Iran’s subsequent retaliation have triggered global flight disruptions.
Tens of thousands of people are stranded across the Middle East as the Iran war spreads throughout the region.
Air Canada cancelled flights to Israel and Dubai until March 22, with service scheduled to resume on March 23.
“We are monitoring the situation and will adjust our schedule accordingly,” the airline said.
European, Asian countries evacuate
Several European and Asian countries have already begun evacuating their citizens from affected regions.
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger announced that a repatriation flight carrying Austrians would depart on Wednesday from the Omani capital Muscat. The minister said a first evacuation flight carrying “particularly vulnerable individuals” already took off Sunday.
Nearly 18,000 Austrian citizens are registered in the region, authorities said.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene also said her country will commence 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 Tuesday that Poland had prepared planes for an evacuation in case the situation in the region worsens.
He estimated there are 14,000 Polish citizens in the United Arab Emirates, and a total of 400,000 people from the EU there.
Over 480 Polish citizens have already managed to leave Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, Tusk said.
South Korean officials say they evacuated 62 nationals from Israel to Egypt by bus, following the earlier evacuation of 23 Koreans from Iran.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it also evacuated four Americans of Korean descent from Israel.
Thailand will evacuate 300 nationals from Iran, including its diplomats there, overland via Turkey.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Tuesday that the evacuees were expected to be transported to a border city in Turkey as soon as possible before flying in back to Thailand.
Thai officials said there were about 100,000 Thai nationals 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 had registered to be repatriated and they could fly back on normal commercial flights. However, the government would also prepare to transport its citizens to other countries if the airspace is closed.
–with files from Associated Press
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