Lebanon evac not guaranteed for over 20,000 Canadians, Ottawa warns

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada is warning more than 20,000 Canadians in Lebanon that they can’t rely on government evacuation flights if war engulfs that country.

The department says 21,399 Canadians have officially registered as being in Lebanon, though it expects many more are present in the country.

Canada has urged people for months to leave Lebanon and not travel there, though diaspora groups say many have gone ahead with travel plans, including visits to family.

Peer countries that had not yet ordered citizens to leave did so in recent weeks, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon intensify.

Canada has been planning since last October for a possible evacuation of its citizens, and sent military personnel to Lebanon and Cyprus in preparation.

But Canada warns evacuations aren’t always possible.

On Tuesday, Israel carried out a rare strike on the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, which it said killed a top Hezbollah commander. The commander was allegedly behind a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

The strike killed at least one woman and two children and wounded dozens of people.

“There is never a guarantee the Canadian government will evacuate Canadians in a crisis situation,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.

“Canadians should not rely on the government of Canada for assisted departure or evacuation. Government assisted evacuations from a foreign country are an option of last resort, when all means of personal and commercial transportation have been exhausted, and the safety and security of its citizens is compromised.”

Canada has recently used military planes to extract citizens from crises in Israel and Sudan to nearby countries, where they could pay for commercial flights home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press