Lebanese Canadian says he's struggling to leave Beirut, despite flights with empty seats
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says chartered flights out of Beruit took off with 379 empty seats
As the Canadian government urges any Canadians in Lebanon to leave, Ahmad Araji wants to know why chartered flights are leaving with empty seats.
"That doesn't make any sense," said Araji, a Lebanese Canadian in Beirut, who has been trying to book a flight back to Canada.
Global Affairs Canada said on Thursday that it chartered two flights to bring Canadians out of Lebanon. According to that statement, those flights had 275 passengers and 379 empty seats.
And Araji says the situation is urgent. Israel bombed central Beirut on Thursday as it fights the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
Because of those airstrikes and a ground invasion, more than a million people in Lebanon have had to leave their homes. Israel has warned residents of more than 20 towns in the country to evacuate.
CBC Radio has requested comment from Global Affairs Canada on why some Canadians who have asked for help say they have not yet heard from from the government. Global Affairs Canada did not respond ahead of publication.
Araji is the president of the Lebanese Club of Ottawa and at the time of his interview with The Current host Matt Galloway, he was still waiting for a flight out of Beirut. Here's part of that conversation.
You're in Beirut today, so describe the situation as you've seen it so far.
Last night with all the airstrikes that were going on in Beirut, it was absolutely horrific. We weren't able to sleep. My hotel was shaking left and right, all night long. It's crazy.
So many more people have been displaced this morning, adding to the 1.2 million people who have already left their homes. It's just, the situation is beyond horrible.
Describe what that looks like. You've seen the impacts of the rocket bombardment up close. What have you seen in recent days?
There is so much chaos and fear among people, because this war is different from the 2006 war. In 2006, it was more specific. The Israeli strikes were more specific than now. Now they have been targeting the entire country. So no specific area or group of people feel safe.
If I go down the street under my hotel, I would see cars parked on the side of the street, some of them with no food or even water. A lot of them don't even have cars. They're just sleeping on the sides of the roads with some cushions.
It's starting to get a bit colder here in Lebanon. And that's extremely alarming to the thousands and thousands of people who don't have a shelter currently. It's very sad. There are killings left and right, footage of children with blood all over everywhere. It's a very scary situation we're in right now.
The Canadian government has urged Canadians in Lebanon to leave as soon as possible. And you've been trying to find a flight out. You mentioned that your airline has cancelled the flights. What's that process been like? Where are you at now in terms of trying to get out of the country?
So I'm trying to book my own flight, regardless whether the Canadian government helps with that or not, because I haven't been contacted yet by anyone from the government. I tried to look at flights about four days ago, and the soonest I found was Oct. 7.
I believe that if I try to book right now, it might be Oct. 20. So I'm in the process of waiting. And while I'm waiting, I'm trying to raise funds and help people here as much as possible.
One of the things we know is that the Canadian government has chartered aircraft to help get people out of Lebanon. And what we're hearing is the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, saying yesterday that there were nearly 400 empty seats on two flights that left yesterday for Istanbul. She was urging Canadians to take those seats. How is that working if you're trying to get out, but then there are seats that are still available? What's going on there, as you understand it?
For me, that doesn't make any sense. One, because the only functioning airlines right now is the Middle East Airlines, which is our national airlines, that the Canadian government is working with. I tried to book with that airline and it says fully booked for so many days. So that's me trying to book with them directly.
Number two, if they want us to book on these flights, they need to be contacting us in a way or form. I haven't been getting any calls or texts whatsoever regarding that matter. So that raises all the questions on how organized the process is of trying to evacuate people.
So you haven't been contacted by the Canadian government?
Not at all. It's the email that I registered for and they told me that I am currently registered, but nothing else.
Interview produced by Niza Lyapa Nondo and Paul MacInnis. Q&A edited for length and clarity.
