Global Affairs Canada is warning the estimated 21,000 Canadians in Lebanon that they cannot count on government evacuation flights if war ever ravages that country.
The agency says 21,399 Canadians have officially registered as being in Lebanon, but it expects many more Canadians to actually be in the country.
Ottawa has been urging Canadians for months to leave Lebanon or not travel there. But Lebanese diaspora groups say many Canadians have continued with travel plans, including to visit relatives.
Peer countries that had not previously advised their nationals to leave Lebanon have done so in recent weeks, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah militants have intensified.
Canada has been planning for a possible evacuation of its citizens since last October and has sent military personnel to Lebanon and Cyprus to prepare for it. But Ottawa warns that such evacuations are not always possible in an emergency.
And on Wednesday, the government once again urged Canadians to leave Lebanon immediately. “Some airlines have already temporarily suspended services to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport,” the government warned on social media site X. “Further transportation disruptions are likely, including airspace closures, flight cancellations and diversions.”
According to Montrealer of Lebanese origin Lamia Charlebois, many Canadians in Lebanon must choose between staying in the country and caring for their elderly parents, or returning to Canada earlier with their children for the start of the school year.
“We are torn […] “between the homeland and the adopted land, the parents and the children. That’s the problem,” said Charlebois, who runs a Facebook group with more than 13,000 members dedicated to helping Lebanese newcomers to Montreal.
“It’s always the same dilemma: wait a little and see how it goes, stay with your family, take care of your parents, wait a little and risk getting stuck, or leave now while you can, leaving your parents under the bombs.”
High season for Lebanon
Israel carried out a rare strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday that it said eliminated a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Israel said the commander was behind a rocket attack last Saturday that killed 12 youths in the Israeli-held Golan Heights.
The Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday killed at least one woman and two children, and wounded dozens of people.
When Lebanese Canadians visit Lebanon, it is often not for tourism, Charlebois said. But their concerns about the country have intensified since Oct. 7, with many Lebanese feeling caught up in the war involving Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Natasha Feghali, 28, a Canadian-Lebanese activist and educator in Windsor, Ont., has relatives in Lebanon, including Canadian family visiting the Middle Eastern country. She said she’s increasingly worried about them as tensions rise in the region.
“People I know who are on vacation [là-bas] have already booked tickets to leave earlier,” she said.
Feghali noted that summer is typically the peak season for Lebanese Canadians to visit their country. She said she is particularly concerned about the fate of families who do not have dual citizenship and who will have no choice but to stay there if the situation deteriorates.
“I hope it doesn’t happen,” she said of a fire in the area. “And I’m very worried if it does: where would they go?”
In its “travel advice” section, the Canadian government writes: “You should not depend on the Government of Canada for assisted departure or evacuation.”
“Since October 2023, the Government of Canada has recommended that Canadians leave Lebanon while commercial options are still available,” Ottawa adds.
Global Affairs Canada also states in a statement that “government-assisted evacuations from a foreign country are an option of last resort, when all means of personal and commercial transportation have been exhausted and the safety and security of its citizens are compromised.”
Canada recently used military aircraft to extract nationals from crisis situations in Israel and Sudan to neighbouring countries. These nationals then had to buy tickets on commercial flights to return home.