Feds to fly Canadians out of Egypt

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Feds to fly Canadians out of Egypt
Flights expected to begin as early as tomorrow
News1130 Staff Jan 30, 2011 13:40:10 PM
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•Situation in Egypt remains tense
•One protester killed, Egypt crisis continues
OTTAWA, ON (NEWS1130) - The federal government is arranging charter flights to get Canadians out of Egypt as anti-government protests continue to rock that country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says the flights will begin flying out of Egypt as of tomorrow.

He says Canadians who want to get out need to call the Canadian Embassy in Cairo or the emergency operations centre in Ottawa.

"Our government is making arrangements to provide transportation to locations in Europe. Canadian citizens, who travel on arranged transport, will be expected to make their own onward travel plans from these locations."

The charter flights will bring Canadians to London, Paris or Frankfurt. He says once in Europe, people will be expected to make their own arrangements to get home. They will also have to reimburse the government for the price of the flight.

Earlier today, Ottawa warned Canadians in Egypt to consider leaving if they didn't have to be there and advised against any "non-essential" travel to the country.

Those who are in Egypt are being advised to evaluate their security, avoid all demonstrations and keep a supply of food.

There are roughly 5,500 Canadians in Egypt, which is being rocked by its sixth day of anti-government protests. Cannon says so far, there have been no reports of any Canadians having been killed or injured.

Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on their loved ones in Egypt can call the operations center at 1-800-606-5499.

Canadians in Egypt requiring emergency assistance should contact the Canadian Embassy in Cairo at 20 (2) 2791-8700.


Internet outages continue

Social media is becoming a critical way of communicating as people deal with the crisis in Egypt.  One Twitter platform saw an increase days before the Internet was blocked.

The number of account sign-ups jumped from just thousands to tens of thousands a few days before the Egyptian government blocked access to the web.

Dave Olson with local tech startup HootSuite, says their company saw the same thing happen a couple of years ago during elections in Iran.  "People are finding different ways to connect, but to see the work we're doing here has become a key tool for people lives over there in a time of crisis."

Those 140 characters are a great way to get updates from family and friends, and Olson adds it paints a better picture of a nation in crisis.

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