Jerome Bower has spent his nights helping his sister's family patrol the compound that encloses their home in Cairo and his days waiting for Canadian officials to return the messages he has left asking how to escape the chaos that surrounds him.
His partner, Donna McMurtry, is in British Columbia waiting for his return and making her own calls to the Department of Foreign Affairs, which have also gone unanswered.
The Canadian government evacuated about 500 people to safety from Cairo on Monday. An Air Canada flight dispatched to transport 335 Canadians out of Egypt has touched down safely in Frankfurt. A second aircraft, one operated out of Jordan, was expected to take off a short time later with nearly 200 more people anxious to escape the pandemonium that has engulfed Egypt.
The group was a relative handful of the roughly 6,500 Canadians believed to be in Egypt. Many who remain are unable to obtain information about flights that could take them home.
"The men are patrolling at night with baseball bats and sticks and knives against hooligans and looters," Ms. McMurtry said. "And I think it's pretty tense."
Like a lot of other Canadians, both she and Mr. Bower have called the help lines established by the Department of Foreign Affairs. After waiting for many minutes, they have been forced to leave messages that have gone unreturned.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told reporters on Monday the phone lines are the problem. "The embassy, for obviously reasons, is also not responsible for the telecommunications network in Egypt. I think everybody understands that," he said.
Cellphones are working despite the protests that have affected other forms of communication and Mr. Cannon said anyone who is trapped in the country, or has family members who are trapped, should contact the Canadian embassy in Cairo at 20 (2) 2791-8700 or place a collect call to the emergency centre at the department of Foreign Affairs and International trade in Ottawa at 613-996-8885 or 1-613-943-1055 or, if the internet is available, send an e-mail to sos@international.gc.ca.
Swamped by requests for assistance, the government has added two telephone lines for use by Canadians stranded in Egypt and plans to send a few more staff to Cairo and cities such as Frankfurt, Germany, where evacuation flights will land.
One government source said staff were simply overwhelmed by the more than 5,000 calls and are now working to catch up. Staff at the embassy in Cairo and Ottawa call-centre are going through voice mails and calling people back, but that means they are on the phone when new calls come in.
Opposition politicians, however, said the government was reliving the fumbled 2006 evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said the problems were caused partly by cuts to Canada's foreign service. "Suddenly they've realized why you have diplomats," he said.
Samia Ibrahim travelled to Egypt for a family wedding last week and got caught up by the protests. By nightfall on Monday, she was still holed up in a relative's apartment in the Egyptian capital, the sound of gunfire in the distance, eager to return to Canada but stumped about what to do next.
The Ottawa resident had been trying to get through to the Canadian embassy since Sunday. On Monday, she began phoning early in the morning without success; her calls were transferred to a Foreign Affairs emergency hot line in Ottawa where she was put on hold for about 45 minutes then told to leave a message. But the voice mailbox was full.
"I feel lonely," she said by phone as darkness fell on Cairo. "I am Canadian and I should get the services of a Canadian. But how can I get help? No one is answering us."
It was only through a relative in Ottawa that she found out the federal government had evacuated the first planeload of Canadians on Monday, she said. "I don't know what's going on."
Lisa Mundoon and her 14-year-old daughter, Lindsay, arrived in Cairo on Saturday evening, and immediately found they couldn't leave the airport owing to the curfew that had been imposed in a military effort to maintain order overnight in the city.
The Albertans did get out of the airport on Saturday for a while and spent the night in a nearby hotel not sure what to do. That's when they heard of the Harper government's order that flights be laid on to take out Canadians. "We jumped at it," Ms. Mundoon said.
Toronto resident Bill Parent, who managed to get out of Cairo on board a separate Lufthansa flight with wife Diane, described hearing gunshots in the neighbourhood where the couple was staying.
Mr. Parent described in glowing terms how the building's caretakers "took on the role of the police" and protected the occupants.
"They took very, very good care of all of us," he said. "I'm so impressed with the people who are charged with that responsibility. They're poor, but boy, did they ever have heart and they're wonderful and loyal people."
The Canadian embassy in Cairo had chartered an Airbus 310 that would carry the first load of Canadians to Frankfurt. After that, they were on their own as to where to go next.
In exchange for the flight, people were asked to sign notes promising to pay $400 to the Government of Canada, "including GST," said an embassy official loading the people on the buses that would take them to their flight.
Some passengers at the airport were told by an Egyptian official that they would have to collectively pay $2,000 before they were permitted to board a bus that would take them to the plane.
However, when Canadian embassy officials heard about the shakedown, they spoke with the Egyptians and the money was returned to the people, an embassy official said.
The Foreign Affairs Department plans to evacuate another 600 people on Tuesday and other countries, including Australia, the United States and Britain, have said they will let Canadians take unoccupied seats on their evacuation flights. Roughly 250 more Canadians who have been contacted have indicated their intention to stay in the country, at least for the time being, said Mr. Cannon.
With reports from Patrick Martin in Cairo and Ingrid Peritz in Montreal and The Canadian Press
|
|
Where to look for more information
Canadian citizens in Egypt wishing to be evacuated should contact the Canadian embassy in Cairo at 20 (2) 2791-8700 or make a collect call to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Emergency Operations Centre at 613-996-8885 or the new number, 613-943-1055.
Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be in Egypt should contact the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Emergency Operations Centre by calling, toll-free, 1-800-606-5499 or the new number 1-800-387-3124.
The website of the Canadian embassy in Cairo provides local numbers to call from Cairo and Ottawa to obtain information about the charter flights out of Egypt that are being arranged by the Canadian government.
People dialing the Cairo number after hours will be put through to the DFAIT emergency centre in Ottawa. But they should be prepared to wait. There is a backlog on the emergency line.
The website of the department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to Egypt. It also provides a place for Canadians in Egypt to register with Canadian authorities as well as contact information for consular staff in Egypt.
The Egyptian embassy in Ottawa has a web address but the actual website does not appear to be operational. The Egyptian consulate in Montreal does have a working website but there is nothing posted relating to the current state of emergency.
There are a number of associations for Egyptians in Canada but none have posted information about the current situation of unrest. That may change in the hours and days to come. Those associations are:
The Egyptian Canadian Friendship Association
Campbell Clark