‘Need to get some support’: Families in Simcoe County wait for loved ones to return home from Middle East

Simcoe County residents anxiously await for loved ones' returns home from the chaos happening in the Middle East.

The public continues to keep a close eye on the situation unfolding in Iran, many family members doing what they can to check in with loved ones overseas.

Dr. Alan Bostakian, founder of Intelligent Change Management Think Tank for Human Rights said many families remain in limbo with loved ones.

“Iranian people these days have a very strange combination of feelings. It’s a mixed feeling, as I said, happiness, excitement and concern,” said Dr. Bostakian.

People are experiencing limited communication to family members living in Iran.

“They cannot have ongoing contact with families,” said Dr. Bostakian. “They’re very low frequency, every week one phone call would be 30 seconds or something like that, so they are concerned.”

Bostakian believes there are around 1,000 Iranians living in Simcoe County.

Simcoe County residents remain stuck

As the conflict in the Middle East continues, Canadians continue to be stranded in countries directly affected including residents in Simcoe County.

Bryan Jorgensen has been in Dubai since the conflict started and is scheduled to fly back home on March 11.

“I check it every day and it still says confirmed, but I’m not holding out any hopes,” said Jorgensen.

After a weekend filled with uncertainty, Jorgensen said Monday the shelter in place was semi-lifted and was able to take a walk through the area.

“There’s always that nervous nervousness in the pit of your stomach that doesn’t seem to go away, even though everybody around you looks like they’re not feeling stressed,” said Jorgensen. “But because there’s so much less people out there, you get the feeling that something isn’t right, but you know, you have to go on.”

While Jorgensen waits for his flights, families back home are waiting for their loved ones to return.

Traci Goltz-Boyd’s oldest daughter was travelling to Thailand for her honeymoon and thought nothing of their brief layover in Dubai until the conflict escalated. Since then, the couple has been stuck in Dubai unable to go home.

“First night when it started, she didn’t sleep at all, she’s very anxious,” said Goltz-Boyd. “The second night there wasn’t as much. She said she could hear the missiles and the drones.”

Both Jorgensen and Goltz-Boyd said the UAE government has been easy to deal with and accommodating.

“They’ve been fantastic. They are paying for all accommodations, there’s restaurants that are free to eat at,” said Goltz-Boyd. “They’ve gone above and beyond to take care of anyone that’s abroad.

Goltz-Boyd penned a letter to the Canadian Government asking for more assistance to the Canadians stranded in countries currently affected by the conflict.

“My daughter and her husband and all the Canadians, anyone that’s abroad, they need to get some support,” said Goltz-Boyd. “My daughter’s telling me that people that are from other countries, their government is responding, trying to figure out how to get safe passage, communicating with them. We’re getting nothing from the Canadian government.”

The Canadian government has advised that Canadians avoid all travel to Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab. Canadians are also being cautioned to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia and should be preparing contingency plans independently of the federal government.

Canadians in the Middle East

A statement to CTV News from Global Affairs Canada said there are nearly 100,000 Canadians currently in the Middle East and more than 24,000 in the U-A-E.

The total number includes:

• In Bahrain, 1,518
• Egypt, 7,268
• Iran, 2,921
• Iraq, 954
• Israel, 6,030
• Jordan, 4,477
• Kuwait, 4,200
• Lebanon, 23,304
• Oman, 819
• Palestine, 439
• Qatar, 8,374
• Saudi Arabia, 11,098
• Syria, 1,488
• United Arab Emirates, 24,594
• Yemen, 227

“Our ability to provide consular services to Canadians during an active conflict is limited, with priority given to provision of essential services such as the processing of travel documents,” the statement said. “Canadians in an affected country should prepare contingency plans that don’t rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for departure.”

With files from Spencer Van Dyk