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CTV News
a day ago
- Sport
- CTV News
‘Left in the dark': Windsor man stuck in Tel Aviv still waiting on help from Ottawa
A Windsorite trapped in Tel Aviv a full week after conflict between Israel and Iran flared up. A Windsorite trapped in Tel Aviv says he's finally heard from Canadian officials, but he's still stuck in a region on edge, a full week after conflict between Israel and Iran flared up. Panagiotis Mavridis travelled to Israel earlier this month to run a hockey team in the Israeli Hockey League. He landed June 3, expecting a summer of beach days and game nights. But everything changed ten days later. 'I was here for a week and a half without any sirens, nothing like that. It was very chill,' said Mavridis. 'Now there's sirens every day.' The 21-year-old says there were up to five alerts a night at the height of the attacks, forcing him and a dozen teammates to shelter repeatedly in a Tel Aviv hotel bunker. 'We were going on literally two hours of sleep, three hours of sleep a night,' he said. That tension began June 13, when Israel launched a surprise strike on Iranian targets in Syria. Iran responded with a barrage of drones and missiles. Since then, Ottawa has advised Canadians to avoid all travel to Israel and reiterated longstanding warnings about travel to Iran. Mavridis says he reached out to the Canadian embassy as soon as the conflict erupted, but says the response was disappointing. 'They basically told us not to rely on them and stuff like that. You know, basically that they had no plans,' he said. Mavridis says he loves Canada, but can't help but feel frustrated. 'Every other country is doing stuff for their people that are stuck here,' he added. 'And we were just kind of left in the dark for a bit.' With the hockey season now suspended, Mavridis says the focus for him and other Canadian players has shifted to getting out. Canadian officials eventually told him that trying to reach a neighbouring country could be one option — he says that brings its own challenges. 'Our question was, how are they going to go there?' said Mavridis's mother, Vassi Talampassi, speaking from Windsor. 'It's very dangerous. It's a war zone. They cannot cross the country to go to Jordan or Egypt.' Global Affairs Canada confirms it has stationed consular officials in neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, for Canadians who manage to make it out. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the federal government is working on commercial travel options but didn't announce a formal evacuation. 'We are planning commercial options for Canadians in Israel and Iran to leave the region through certain neighbouring jurisdictions,' Anand told The Canadian Press Thursday. Mavridis says his group of Canadians have registered with Global Affairs Canada, filling out the required forms and submitting their travel documents. But so far, they haven't been told when or how they'll be leaving. 'We can't really leave the area,' Mavridis said. 'We've just kind of been sitting here talking, doing research on how to get out of here. There's nothing really safe for us to do right now.' His mom says that limbo has taken a toll. 'We are — me and his father and his brother also — it's very stressful,' she said. 'We went through serious health issues as a family, and now this is just another thing we have to face.' On Thursday night, Mavridis said he finally got an email update. 'They said that they are going to start making plans for commercial flights,' he said. 'We haven't heard anything since then… but we did get news.' He's hopeful it means the end of his stay in Tel Aviv is near. 'My birthday's on June 30th, so hopefully I'm there for that.'
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Canadians fleeing war in Iran face obstacles in absence of diplomatic ties
Canadian physician Panid Borhanjoo woke up on Friday morning in Iran's cottage country to an onslaught of messages from family and friends asking if he was safe. He turned on the news in his relatives' home in Mazandaran, a lush, coastal province on the Caspian Sea. Israeli missiles had destroyed Iranian nuclear facilities and killed high-ranking military personnel in Tehran, about 200 kilometres away. War had erupted. Dr. Borhanjoo and his family packed their belongings and returned to their apartment in Tehran, the Iranian capital. He had visited his home country many times, despite years of travel warnings and sporadic missile strikes. But now, on this visit, he was hearing missiles fly overhead and explode nearby, and watching smoke and flames billow out of a building across the street. He knew he had to leave. Canada, which severed diplomatic relations with Iran more than a decade ago, had announced no plans to stage an evacuation. Dr. Borhanjoo tried calling Canadian embassies in Turkey and Syria but there was no answer. He quickly realized he could not depend on his own government for help. 'If this country wasn't going to provide me with a safe way out, which it didn't seem like, I had to find my own way out,' he said in an interview on Wednesday. Iran's escalating conflict with Israel has prompted Global Affairs Canada to urge Canadians in Iran to leave the country. However, Canadians trying to get out are largely on their own, with Iranian airspace closed and border crossings difficult and dangerous. The Canadian government cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 for supporting terrorist regimes and violating human rights. As a result, the ability of Canadian officials to provide assistance in Iran is 'extremely limited,' according to Global Affairs' Iran travel advisory. Canada's relations with Tehran stuck in deep freeze, despite Iranian hopes Evacuation operations require co-ordinating efforts with local authorities, which is not possible in the current climate, said Christian Leuprecht, a military expert and government relations professor at Queen's University and Royal Military College. 'Unless there's a significant change in the political conditions in Iran, nobody's evacuating anybody from Iran,' Prof. Leuprecht added. There are more than 4,000 Canadians in Iran registered with Global Affairs. During emergencies while abroad, Canadians are typically encouraged to go to the Canadian embassy or the U.S. embassy. Iran has neither. The closest Canadian embassy is in Turkey, roughly 2,000 kilometres from Tehran. 'The advice in those situations will usually be that it is the responsibility of citizens,' Prof. Leuprecht said. 'It is your responsibility as a citizen to find your way out of the country and if you can find your way out of the country, then we will help to repatriate you. The problem is there's very few places where Canadians could seek shelter.' The conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, with the United States now threatening to intervene. Israel and Iran have so far exchanged hundreds of missiles. A timeline of the Israel-Iran conflict and tensions between the two countries 'In terms of Canada being able to co-ordinate … a mass exodus, it's super challenging in a war zone,' said Dennis Horak, Canada's last Head of Mission to Tehran. 'Nobody really has any good options at this point in trying to help people get out.' Canadians have limited escape routes. Theft and kidnapping are not uncommon along the Iranian land borders. Bandits patrol Iran's border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, enduring conflict keeps Iran's border with Iraq closed, and roads leading to Turkey and Azerbaijan are dilapidated. Dr. Borhanjoo did not wait for a response from Canada. He planned his escape route early on Saturday morning. Within hours he had secured a driver and was headed to Turkey, where he made it across the mountainous border at night and caught a flight from Van to Istanbul, and then to Toronto, on Tuesday. 'I think anyone who has the capacity to leave the country should leave,' he said. However, in the few days since Dr. Borhanjoo fled, the roads leaving Tehran have become crowded with vehicles, making it more difficult to get out. He fears for his family sheltering in Iran, who are older and less mobile. Despite living in Canada for 21 years, Dr. Borhanjoo says his heart and soul are still in Iran. But he is unsure when he will be able to return. 'I don't foresee the rest of the country even being safe any more. I don't think Iran in general is a safe place to be,' he said.
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Canadian rescued from Tel Aviv building hit by missile, Anand says
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick A Canadian embassy staff member was rescued from a building in Tel Aviv that was struck by a missile, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Saturday. In a post on X, Anand thanked Israeli firefighters for helping evacuate the Canadian, who was inside the building when it was hit during Iran's recent attacks. 'She was eventually rescued, along with other occupants of the building, and is safe and sound,' Anand wrote. Anand also said that she spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gidon Saar on Saturday and reiterated Canada's support for Israel's right to defend itself against such attacks. Iran and Israel have been trading fire since Israel's unprecedented attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets on Friday. Iran launched a retaliatory missile strike toward Israel later that day.
CBC
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Canadian demonstrators held, passports confiscated ahead of planned global march to Egypt-Gaza border
More than 40 Canadians planning to participate in the global march to Gaza in Egypt have been detained and their passports confiscated by authorities, organizers told CBC News. A group of 83 Canadians arrived in Cairo on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the scheduled march to Egypt's border with Gaza, an attempt to draw attention to the deepening humanitarian crises facing Palestinians under Israel's blockade of the war-torn territory more than 20 months after attacks began. Tatiana Harker, a member of Palestine Vivra Montreal and march co-ordinator, said Canadians were among the thousands of other demonstrators en route to Al-Arish, where they were expected to begin a three-day march toward Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza to hold a peaceful demonstration there. "A lot of people are being detained, left in the [heat] without any answers, for two to three hours," Harker told CBC News on Friday from Montreal. Harker said Egyptian authorities confiscated their passports at a checkpoint in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Friday without providing a reason. "The [Canadians] have been contacting the Canadian embassy in Cairo with no answer whatsoever. Our government is completely ignoring us." Global Affairs Canada said in an earlier statement to CBC News that it advises Canadians to avoid all travel to the Governate of North Sinai in Egypt and to Gaza. "Canadians who choose to travel to the region do so at their own risk," it said Thursday. More activists detained after earlier deportations Demonstrators were set to bus to Egypt's coastal city of Al-Arish to take part in the 48-kilometre walk on Friday, sleeping in tents along the way to the Rafah crossing. Canadian organizers told CBC that authorities did not allow demonstrators to bus there, and had to find other modes of transportation to reach Al-Arish. After reaching the Rafah area, they plan to camp there for roughly three more days before returning to Cairo, according to the coalition's website, though it noted that much of their plans will depend on authorization from Egyptian officials. Egyptian authorities detained more activists on Friday who were among demonstrators joining the planned march from 80 different countries, while security forces in eastern Libya blocked a convoy of activists en route to meet them. The Global March on Gaza was slated to be among the largest demonstrations of its kind in recent years, coinciding with other efforts, including a boat carrying activists and aid that was intercepted by Israel's military en route to Gaza earlier this week. Organizers on Friday said authorities confiscated passports of 40 people planning to march at a checkpoint outside Cairo, where they're being held in the heat. Others are being detained at hotels. They urged officials from the activists' home countries to push Egypt to release their citizens. Friday's detentions come after hundreds arriving in Cairo were previously detained and deported to their home countries in Europe and North Africa. Before authorities confiscated their passports, the activists said they planned to gather at a campsite on the road to the Sinai to prepare for Sunday's march. They said authorities had not yet granted them authorization to travel through the Sinai, which Egypt considers a highly sensitive area. "We continue to urge the Egyptian government to permit this peaceful march, which aligns with Egypt's own stated commitment to restoring stability at its border and addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the activists said in a statement. Group to refrain from demonstrating for now Hicham El-Ghaoui, one of the group's spokespeople, said they would refrain from demonstrating until receiving clarity on whether Egypt will authorize their protest. The planned demonstrations cast an uncomfortable spotlight on Egypt, one of the Arab countries that has cracked down on pro-Palestinian activists even as it publicly condemns aid restrictions and calls for an end to the war. Alexis Deswaef, a Belgian human rights lawyer, said he woke up on Friday to dozens of security vehicles packed with uniformed officers surrounding Talat Harb Square, where he and other activists had found hotels. Members of his group snuck out of the lobby as security entered, holding up a guidebook and asking an officer for assistance booking taxis to the Pyramids of Giza, where they've been since. "I am so surprised to see the Egyptians doing the dirty work of Israel," he said from the Pyramids. He hoped there would be too many activists at the new meeting point outside Cairo for Egyptian authorities to arrest en masse. Meanwhile, an aid convoy travelling overland from Algeria picked up new participants along the route in Tunisia and Libya, yet was stopped in the city of Sirte, about 940 kilometres from the Libya-Egypt border. The efforts — the activist flotilla, the overland convoy and the planned march — come as international outcry grows over conditions in Gaza. Israel has continued to pummel the territory with airstrikes while limiting the flow of trucks carrying food, water and medication that can enter, saying it is applying pressure on Hamas to disarm and release Israeli hostages.
