Mohamed Fahmy: Canadian citizens rush to flee the Middle East |
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Mohamed Fahmy: Canadian citizens rush to flee the Middle East
More than 108,000 Canadians in the region have registered with Global Affairs Canada
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Nearly a week after the first joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran, the conflict continues to escalate across the Middle East, with casualties mounting and tens of thousands of Canadians across the region now facing growing danger.
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The scale of hostilities is unlike anything the Middle East has experienced since the Gulf War in 1990 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq — a conflict I covered from its first day as a journalist.
Mohamed Fahmy: Canadian citizens rush to flee the Middle East Back to video
Iran’s immediate retaliation — firing hundreds of missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases across the region — was widely anticipated. Alarmingly, some Iranian projectiles have struck civilian sites in Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, home to tens of thousands of Canadians. Among them are members of my own family, currently stranded in Kuwait as airports remain closed and regional airspace faces ongoing threats.
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As of March 6, several countries — including France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, and the United States — have successfully begun evacuating thousands of their citizens from the region through chartered and military flights.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said during a press conference on Wednesday that Ottawa is examining options to evacuate Canadians from the Middle East.
“The situation is volatile and changing by the hour,” she warned.
Anand said the federal government has not called on the military for assistance and is continuing to coordinate charter flights, block bookings on commercial airlines, and ground transportation to move stranded Canadians to neighbouring countries. But as the conflict escalates and civilian areas come under fire, there are growing calls for Ottawa to deploy military resources and accelerate evacuation efforts before the situation worsens.
As the war widens with bombardments across the Middle East, the number of Canadians who are seeking consular help to flee the fog of war in the region has increased to more than 3,500 people, up from more than 2,000 Canadians who requested help days earlier — the numbers are expected to rise.
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More than 108,000 Canadians in the region have registered with Global Affairs Canada.
Many Canadians abroad followed the announcement anxiously — myself included — as I monitor the unfolding crisis from Egypt, one of the few countries in the region not targeted by Iranian missile strikes because it does not host U.S. military bases.
Since the war began, my family in Kuwait has sent me daily messages describing the panic gripping the country: supermarket shelves being emptied, families stockpiling supplies, and the dread that sets in every time warning sirens signal another incoming Iranian attack.
In a heartbreaking incident, an 11-year-old girl was killed in her bed by falling shrapnel after an Iranian missile was intercepted — another painful reminder that, at times of war, it is civilians who often pay the highest price.
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Some residents are self-evacuating from Kuwait, travelling overland to Saudi Arabia, where airports remain open and commercial flights are still operating.
My family has registered with the Canadian embassy in Kuwait and I cannot stress enough how critical it is for Canadians abroad to register during times of war or crisis.
Registration with the Canadian embassy while overseas has allowed embassy officials to locate citizens, provide direct emergency updates, and coordinate potential evacuation efforts if necessary.
The United Arab Emirates — home to roughly 40,000 Canadians — has absorbed the bulk of Iran’s retaliatory strikes across the Gulf. Emirati authorities say more than 1,100 Iranian projectiles have been tracked since the escalation began. Although the vast majority were intercepted, about 65 reached the ground, killing three civilians and injuring dozens.
Some of my friends in the UAE are leaving by car, while others are using dedicated emergency bus corridors to reach neighbouring Oman, where the airport remains open. The journey covers approximately 280 miles — a scenic drive I have taken before.
The war with Iran has quickly spread across the region, triggering renewed fighting between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia based in Lebanon, fired missiles toward northern Israel, claiming the strike was retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Approximately 45,000-75,000 Canadian citizens are estimated to reside in Lebanon, according to figures from Global Affairs Canada, yet only a fraction have registered with the Canadian Embassy in Beirut.
The growing toll on civilians is deeply disturbing. In Lebanon, at least 217 people have been killed and 798 injured in the latest wave of Israeli strikes following the renewed escalation.
Israel has already endured deadly attacks, with at least 12 civilians killed. On March 1, the situation turned tragic when an Iranian ballistic missile struck a synagogue bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh, claiming the lives of nine people.
For any of the 35,000 Canadians seeking to leave Israel, the safest and most practical option is to travel by land to the Taba border crossing into Egypt. From there, commercial flights from nearby Egyptian airports remain operational, providing a reliable route for evacuation.
There are nearly 3,000 Canadians registered in Iran, and 74 have formally asked the Canadian government for evacuation assistance, according to official figures — but any effort may be complicated by the fact that Canada has no diplomatic mission in Iran and due to the near-total internet blackout and the unprecedented bombardment of the country.
The U.S.-based Human Rights News Agency has so far documented the deaths of 1,168 Iranian civilians since the beginning of the war, including more than 160 students in a girl’s elementary school — likely targeted by U.S. forces according to a New York Times investigation. The school was previously part of a neighbouring Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps complex.
Canada’s stance toward Iran has never been timid: Ottawa has unequivocally cast the Islamic Republic as the region’s principal source of instability and terror, condemning its abysmal human rights record and warning that no world should ever permit Tehran to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.
In an effort to thread a diplomatic needle, our prime minister has publicly stated that his support for the U.S. airstrikes on Iran comes “with regret,” framing the current conflict as a yet another stark example of a “failure of the international order.” His comments underscore deep concern about how global norms and laws are being eroded even as violence spreads.
If diplomatic efforts collapse and the war spreads, Mark Carney must put Canadians first, taking decisive action as was done during Operation Lion in the 2006 Lebanon War. Back then, a coordinated multi-agency effort — including the Canadian Armed Forces — carried out Canada’s largest-ever mass evacuation through sea and air, safely removing nearly 15,000 people in just two months. The current crisis may demand nothing less.
Mohamed Fahmy is an award-winning journalist who has covered the Middle East for numerous outlets, including CNN, Al-Jazeera the Los Angeles Times and Foreign Policy.
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