As war on Iran widens with bombardments across the Middle East, the number of Canadians seeking consular help to flee the region has spiked to 3,500 people, up from more than 2,000 Canadians who requested help two days earlier.
More than 108,000 Canadians in the region have registered with Global Affairs Canada.
- The government’s emergency watch and response centre can be reached at 613-996-8885, or at Registration of Canadians Abroad - Canada.ca.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said that the federal government has not called on the military for assistance, but is instead continuing to coordinate charter flights and block bookings on commercial airlines as well as ground transportation to take stranded Canadians to neighboring countries.
Anand also the government is not chartering boats because seaway routes are not safe at this time.
The majority of Canadians seeking help are stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
On the Friday morning update, Anand said that the government had secured a Saturday flight from Dubai to Istanbul, Turkiye that accommodates 180 Canadians. Consular officials were also trying to block seats on two commercial Air Arabia flights to accommodate another 100 Canadians stuck in Dubai.
Anand says another 200 seats have been secured on flights departing the Lebanese capital of Beirut to Istanbul.
Passengers would have to pay for the flights. Anand said unused seats would go to citizens or staff of European nations and “likeminded missions.”
The government has also organized ground transportation that will leave Qatar for Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The minister said there will be 180 seats on four buses.
Anand says her team has been in touch with the Department of National Defence and is including them in their planning.
On Thursday, Lieutenant-General Steve Boivin, who in charge of Canadian Joint Operations Command, said that Global Affairs had not yet requested assistance with non-combatant operations or assisted departures, however military officials were working on contingency plans.
Bovin told reporters at a defence conference in Ottawa that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was in the process of deploying six liaison officers to the various countries in the war zone to assess the circumstances.
“We are contingency planning to make sure we understand the situation. … We want to make sure we are prepared should a request come in. But we don’t have a request yet, nor have we moved major assets like ships or airplanes,” Boivin said.
The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and unpredictable and the minister continued to urge Canadians to register with Global Affairs in order to get updates.
