Passport issues strand Northern Ont. couple in Middle East amid Iran war

A Canadian man remains stranded in the United Arab Emirates without his passport amid escalating conflict in the region.

Sudburians Lyle Gates and Anisa Zoubeiri moved to the United Arab Emirates for work in 2016.

However, with the conflict in Iran -- and escalating threats to the UAE -- the couple has been considering leaving the country.

But events overtook them and what should have been a routine passport update stranded them in the Middle East.

“My husband has been left without his primary travel document -- his passport -- not due to loss or negligence, but because it was submitted as part of the passport renewal process to the Canadian Embassy,” said Zoubeiri.

Following the first U.S.-Israeli missile strike in Iran, Gates said the Canadian embassy in Abu Dhabi was closed. Embassy officials didn’t respond to his inquiries until recently, when they confirmed they knew the passport was printed, but its location is unknown.

“I spoke with someone -- a staff member -- directly who told me that our situation needed to be handled by the local embassy,” Zoubeiri said.

“When I explained again that the embassy was closed, she just reminded me that they were dealing with a high volume of inquiries and that we would have to wait.”

Gates said he’s looking at his predicament as a learning moment.

“In these circumstances, the Canadian government needs to be a bit more prepared for these sorts of events going forward,” he said.

“And look at possible opportunities to improve the process, like Anisa has stated, I’m disappointed.”

While Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from CTV News, they are telling Canadians in the region that the government will continue to help get them home.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand reiterated that message in an update this week on the evacuations. She is encouraging all Canadians to leave the region while they can and to use available government resources.

Zoubeiri said that advice would be appreciated if the couple both had their passports.

Pathways to leave UAE

“They sent an email saying, here are some pathways to exit if you want to exit,” she said.

“They had a few recommendations, either taking commercial flights or travelling through Saudi Arabia and flying out of or travelling to Oman and flying out of Muscat. But, of course, without a passport … those options were not open to us.”

While they haven’t made the final decision whether to leave, since that would have implications for Gates’ employment.

However, they want the ability to leave if they choose, or if circumstances change and they need to leave quickly.