Australia Provides Assistance to Help Its Citizens Leave Lebanon
Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister addresses the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 (Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia, has recently urged Australian citizens in Lebanon to leave while they still can. An estimated 15,000 Australians remain in Lebanon after Israel initiated a ground operation in Hezbollah. The Australian government is believed to be financially assisting some Australians by securing seats on outbound flights and organizing other methods of extracting its citizens from danger zones.
In a press conference that took place on Oct. 3, Wong stated that Australia has secured hundreds of seats on flights departing later in the week for citizens, permanent residents, and those wanting to leave Lebanon. However, she also stated that it will be difficult for the government to assist all of those who wish to leave. “Please take whatever option is available to you. Please do not wait for your preferred route,” Wong stated.
It is believed that Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport—the only running commercial airport in Lebanon—is still open; Australian passport and visa holders were being assisted on to flights by diplomatic staff, but on Sunday, the airport canceled all flights until Monday. Focus will be placed on commercial flights as long as the airport remains open.
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft was positioned in Cyprus as part of a contingency plan to transport Australians back home. In addition, news reports from Canada have suggested that it will work with Australia in contracting a commercial aircraft to transport 1,000 people out each day.
Wong has been posting updates on X about the mercy flights. On Oct. 5 she stated “Yesterday two Australian Government assisted departure flights arrived in Cyprus from Lebanon carrying 407 Australians & immediate family members” and “Today two more flights are planned. These are fully booked.” Options for departure are expected to decrease the moment the airport becomes inoperational.
A group of Australian nationals arrive at Cyprus' Larnaca airport, after a chartered flight evacuated them from Lebanon (Photo: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
There is a large Lebanese diaspora in Australia and roughly 15,000 Australians normally live in Lebanon. Wong stated that around 1,700 Australians and their families have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and expressed their desire to leave. Emergency evacuation plans have been in the works for months and include the possible use of Australian defense force personnel already deployed in the Middle East. Australia has been attempting to get its citizens to leave the area for weeks since the large number of Australians in Lebanon will make a government-sponsored evacuation difficult.
In the press conference, Wong also voiced her support for the ceasefire plan in Lebanon which was supported by many countries, including the United States, to discontinue the clear “cycle of violence.” Israel has rejected these global calls for peace.