‘I’m on medication and running out’: Canadians scramble to leave Middle East
Global News
Global Affairs Canada says more than 100,000 Canadians are registered in the Gulf region, a number that has been growing since Sunday.
Canadians remain stranded across parts of the Middle East as the war involving Iran continues to disrupt travel, grounding thousands of flights and leaving some tourists scrambling to find a way home.
Global Affairs Canada says that as of Wednesday, more than 106,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents are registered in the Gulf region, a number that has been growing since Sunday.
Brothers Kimball and Ravi Sarin are among those caught in the wider disruption. The Canadians were supposed to leave Sri Lanka on Saturday after a month-long vacation, but their flight was cancelled amid the travel chaos.
“We had another flight. We’ve been refused twice at the airport,” Kimball Sarin told Global News.
His brother said the delays are becoming urgent. “I’m on medication and I’m running out. I only have a couple of days’ (worth) left,” Ravi Sarin said.
Ottawa says it has secured a limited number of seats on commercial flights from Beirut and is looking at other options.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to the Menachem Begin border crossing between Eilat and Taba, Egypt.
However, Anand said Global Affairs Canada is not currently offering assisted departures.
The four died Sunday when a drone hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, just a day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran.
The Iran conflict continues to roil global markets but gold isn't shining so brightly right now, even though many have long considered it a safe haven during a crisis.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have offered shifting explanations for why the war is necessary — and what the endgame is.
Their silence came amid coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran that killed the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other high-ranking officials.
Major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region, and airspace across the Gulf is closed as the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran continues.
Government officials are warning that the escalating conflict between Iran, the U.S. and Israel is raising the risk of cyber attacks against critical networks in Canada.
The conflict, which appears to be spreading to other parts of the region, has reportedly killed hundreds, disrupted global air travel and sent oil prices skyrocketing.
U.S. President Donald Trump says the conflict in Iran is projected to go on for another 'four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.'
It will be the first time France increases its nuclear arsenal since at least 1992. France is also the only nuclear power in the European Union.
The number is based on voluntary self-registration by Canadians with Global Affairs Canada as of Sunday, which means the actual number may be higher.
While questions are being raised about whether a regime change is possible in Iran, experts say attacks by Iran on Israel are likely to continue in the days to come.
Canadians visiting and living in several Middle East countries are dealing with various emotions as Iran fires missiles in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel's bombardment.
Iranian Canadians gathered in various cities across the country this weekend celebrating recent strikes in Iran by the U.S. targeting 'imminent threats from the Iranian regime.'