What are countries doing to get their nationals out of Lebanon?
World
What are countries doing to get their nationals out of Lebanon?
(Reuters) - Nations worldwide have begun to evacuate citizens from Lebanon after a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran.
People are also fleeing on their own.
Here are details of evacuations or plans to evacuate:
AUSTRALIA
Australia started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus on Saturday. Some 229 people arrived on the east Mediterranean island on a commercial airline chartered by Australia, with a second flight scheduled later in the day. More flights could be expected based on demand, Australian and Cypriot officials said.
BELGIUM
Belgium's foreign ministry has advised citizens to leave as soon as possible, the Belga news agency said.
BRAZIL
Brazil, which says 3,000 nationals want to be repatriated, has sent an Air Force Airbus A330 for those seeking to leave. The plane was due to fly 220 people out of Beirut on Friday and do two flights a week.
CHINA
More than 200 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon, China's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
CANADA
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon on Saturday to sign up to be evacuated on special flights that have already helped more than 1,000 leave. Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Trudeau's office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.
CYPRUS
Cyprus evacuated 38 of its nationals on Thursday using an aircraft provided by Greece, and chartered another flight for 70 people, including a number of Cypriots and other nationalities including from Greece and Poland to Cyprus on Friday night.
Definitely, I was in the south. I lost my house, my kids lost their rooms, our clothes.
DENMARK
Denmark has urged citizens to leave as soon as possible, but said it had not initiated an evacuation as there were still commercial flights out of Lebanon. Middle East Airlines will add extra flights from Beirut to European destinations to meet the demand for
commercial travel outwards, the Danish foreign ministry said.
FRANCE
France has had contingency plans for months but has not yet ordered an evacuation. Current plans centre on Cyprus and Beirut airport, while it is also discussing evacuations via Turkey. France has a warship in the region, with a helicopter carrier set to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in coming days in preparation for any decision to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon.
GERMANY
Germany's Foreign Ministry said it was flying another 219 nationals out of Lebanon on Friday as it continues to evacuate non-essential staff, families of embassy workers and medically vulnerable nationals. It says it will support others trying to leave.
GREECE
Greece, which evacuated 22 nationals on Thursday along with some Cypriot citizens, has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid any travel there, putting a frigate on standby in case assistance is required.
ITALY
Italy has cut diplomatic staff and added security personnel at its Beirut embassy. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has repeatedly urged nationals to leave the country and sought assurances from Israel over the safety of Italian peacekeepers in the area.
JAPAN
Eleven Japanese and five foreign nationals left Lebanon for Jordan aboard Japan's C-2 military transport aircraft on Friday. There were about 50 Japanese citizens in Lebanon as of Thursday.
