Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand speaks with reporters at Canada's High Commission in New Delhi on Monday. Global Affairs says it is deploying staff trained to deal with emergencies.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Global Affairs Canada is increasing staff to help Canadians caught up in the Middle East conflict but also urging them to fend for themselves.
In a statement issued Monday morning, the department said its ability to provide consular services to Canadians during active hostilities is limited, with priority given to essential services such as processing travel documents.
“If you are in an affected country, prepare contingency plans that don’t rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for departure,” Global Affairs said.
Live updates: Middle East war widens as Israel strikes Hezbollah; instability hits markets
The statement said the department is not aware of any Canadians who have been killed or injured in the attacks. It also said staff at Canadian missions are safe and accounted for.
It advises against any travel to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
The department says it is deploying members of its standing rapid deployment team, who are trained to deal with emergencies, to the region, and will add surge capacity to the Emergency Watch and Response Centre for operations in Ottawa.
According to the advisory, more than 85,000 Canadians and permanent residents in the region have registered with Global Affairs, with most in Lebanon, 23,165, and the United Arab Emirates, 23,064.
The advisory says there are 10,948 in Saudi Arabia, 8,234 in Qatar, 7,238 in Egypt, 2,932 in Iran and 6,006 in Israel.
Other counts are:
- Bahrain: 1,438
- Iraq: 943
- Jordan: 4,469
- Kuwait: 4,070
- Oman: 793
- Palestine: 438
- Syria: 1,484
- Yemen: 227
Global Affairs said the numbers provide only a general estimate of Canadians in the region because registration is voluntary. Also, the numbers may include individuals who have registered with no plans to travel or have since returned to Canada.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand had distinct advice for Canadians in Iran versus those in other areas of the Middle East amid the fallout of the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation.
People walk past buildings damaged during a strike on a police station in Tehran on Monday.Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press
She said in a statement Sunday that Canadians in Iran should shelter in place. Meanwhile, Canadians in the broader region should follow local advice and only evacuate when it is safe to do so.
An advisory posted by Ms. Anand’s department on travel advice to Israel and Palestine said: “The security situation can deteriorate rapidly.” In any event, it noted that Ben Gurion International Airport – Israel’s main airport located southeast of Tel Aviv – is closed, and all flights to and from the country are cancelled until further notice.
Noah Shack, the chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Sunday that Israel has systems to protect residents of the country from missile attack, but the federal government has a role protecting Canadians in the country.
“There are measures in place to protect everyone who is there right now,” he said. “I think it’s important that Canadians who are in Israel have the information that they need to know on how to stay safe and how to ultimately come home as those routes become available,” he said in an interview.
In Jerusalem, former Ottawa lawyer Ned Steinman said he felt safe, given the structures and routines in place to assure the safety of the public.
The Montreal-born Mr. Steinman, who moved to Israel in 2017, said that included an app, provided by an Israeli government agency, that issues alerts on pending missile attacks. On Saturday, he said the app had gone off 15 times during the day.
In addition, there’s Israel’s anti-missile defence system that responds to missile attacks, with rockets sent to intercept them.
The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the lack of any apparent exit plan indicate the conflict would not end anytime soon.
The Associated Press
Safe rooms resistant to missile debris are commonplace in Israel. Mr. Steinman noted that there is one in the low-rise condo complex where he lives with his wife. “You hear the booms on the outside as the missiles are taken out, as the defence systems are engaged,” he said.
However, he noted that the safe room has limits. “Nothing will survive a direct impact,” said Mr. Steinman, 61.
“You feel as though there is a lot of infrastructure built around your protection, such as this app, such as the sirens outside, such as locations and public shelters,” he said.
Out on the streets of Jerusalem, he said there is no sense of panic.
“It’s an odd thing to say you feel safe here. You actually feel protected, and you feel that there’s something looking after your physical interest and your safety at the same time.”
However, the interview with The Globe and Mail came to an abrupt end when his app, which he monitors from his watch and smartphone, went off, producing a shrill, intense alert sound. “That’s the app,” he said.
Later, he reported that he was safe.
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