PARIS (AP) — Governments across the world scrambled to organize the return of their citizens from the Middle East on Wednesday as travel across the region remained heavily disrupted by the widening Iran war.
The first flight repatriating French citizens stranded in the Middle East landed in Paris early Wednesday as French authorities booked about 100 seats onboard for vulnerable people on a priority list, said Eleonore Caroit, the minister responsible
for French Nationals Abroad.
Students also returned to Milan after being evacuated from Dubai by the Italian government. Valerio Schiavoi, a member of the World Students Connection program, said he was part of group involved in United Nations diplomatic simulations in Dubai.
“And we received the news that Iran had been bombed by USA and Israel,” he told Italian news agency LaPresse. “And as soon as we leave the room, we start to hear the sounds of military planes and so on. And the panic starts a bit. Through the window we could see missiles passing by and alarms kept sounding but we didn’t know what to do.”
With airspace closed or heavily restricted across much of the Gulf, passengers have been stranded not only in the region but also in cities far from the fighting after their connecting flights were canceled. Amid the travel chaos and with commercial flights limited, governments have been mounting emergency operations.
The French plane departed from Muscat, Oman and made a stop in Cairo, Egypt, before touching down at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Another flight carrying French citizens, who were based in Israel and managed to cross the border with Egypt, should arrive in France later Wednesday, Caroit said.
“We are focusing on a priority group — families with children, people affected by illness, old people,” she told TF1 broadcaster. “Our goal is to help repatriate as quickly as possible the French people who wish to return.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said an estimated 400,000 French people are present in the region affected by the conflict, either as residents or temporarily passing through.
The United States told its citizens to leave more than a dozen countries in the region right away using any available commercial transportation. The countries include Iran and Israel, as well as Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
In Europe, the British government said a chartered flight will take off from Oman late Wednesday to bring back some of the thousands of U.K. nationals in the Gulf. It said the most vulnerable will be prioritized for the first of what is expected to be a series of flights.
The Foreign Office said more than 130,000 British nationals in the Middle East have registered their presence with the government since the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict broke out, though not all are trying to leave. Many of those are in the UAE, and the government has advised against trying to travel overland to Oman.
Commercial airlines are also starting to resume some flights, with Etihad, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic all due to operate flights from the UAE to London on Wednesday.
Ireland’s foreign minister said Emirates airlines would operate a flight from Dubai to Dublin on Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee welcomed the development as the government tried to help some of its estimated 22,000-23,000 Irish citizens in the Middle East to return home. The Irish government also plans to charter a flight for about 280 people from Oman in the coming days.
Elsewhere, Norway’s Foreign Ministry said it’s sending an “emergency team” to Dubai to reinforce the Norwegian embassy’s team helping an estimated 1,500 Norwegians registered in the city.
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Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this story.
