‘I feel like an afterthought’: Canadians fleeing Middle East criticize government response

Minister Anita Anand says Canada has helped more than 500 Canadians leave Israel and Iran, but face challenges over their airspace. Heather Wright explains.

Despite the ceasefire that went into effect Tuesday morning, Canadians are still trying to leave both Israel and Iran, saying it hasn’t been easy to get out of either country.

“I mean honestly, it’s been a rollercoaster,” said Maeve McMahon, a Canadian PhD. student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

McMahon says she has received updates from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and calls from consular officials, but adds that the assistance offered was limited.

“It’s very much a self-led evacuation here,” she said, pointing to instructions from the government to leave Israel through crossings into Jordan, without assistance to get there.

“Half of my peers had been evacuated by their government, and I was being told by mine that I could take a cab somewhere.”

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada is ramping up its consular services in the region to assist the 6,000-plus Canadians and permanent residents that live in Israel, the Occupied West Bank, as well as the 5,500 that live in Iran.

“We have deployed additional consular services throughout the region (and) throughout the border areas,” Anand said at the NATO meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. “We will continue to be there to support Canadians and advocate and ensure to the best of our ability the safety and security of the region as a whole.”

GAC says the government has helped more than 500 Canadians and permanent residents leave the region, including the 100 people on a charter flight that left Jordan Tuesday.

After waiting for more than a week, McMahon said she was able to secure a seat on a Canadian bus that will take citizens from Tel Aviv to the Jordanian border on Wednesday. She says they will have to cross on their own, but consular officials will meet them on the Jordan side and transport them to a hotel in Amman.

McMahon also booked her own tickets home to Ottawa.

“I feel like it’s time to come home,” she said. “It’s pretty touch-and-go here, it’s scary. We don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Closed airspace in Iran and Israel has complicated efforts for Canada to evacuate its citizens from both countries. Travel advisories have also been in place for Iran and Israel, warning Canadians about the risk of travelling there.

Global Affairs Canada notes on its website that it has “no resident government office in Iran,” making its ability to provide consular assistance “extremely limited.”