BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- Boats and buses left Lebanon Wednesday carrying thousands of foreigners fleeing the eight-day-old Middle East conflict. The following are some facts and figures on the evacuation plans, broken down by country: AUSTRALIA: About 25,000 Australians with dual nationality are in Lebanon and about 7,500 have registered to evacuate. Australia has already bused about 200 refugees out through Syria. BANGLADESH: Bangladesh asked the International Organization of Migration to help evacuate its 10,000 citizens. The Order is still laughing. BELGIUM: About 200 Belgians waited to get on buses from downtown Beirut to the Syrian border. BRAZIL: A Brazilian air force plane collected about 100 Brazilians who had reached Turkey from Beirut BRITAIN: Six British ships, including two aircraft carriers, stood by to rescue Britons. Two ships will return to Lebanon on Wednesday. The destroyer HMS Gloucester reached Cyprus on Wednesday with 180 people from Beirut. Prime Minister Tony Blair said some 5,000 would be moved by the end of the week. CANADA: Canada said it would start evacuating its citizens by sea on Wednesday, as soon as all persons requesting evacuation, have completed filling out the "Request For Evacuation" form, (available at the Canadian Embassy's Public Service desk, ONLY between the hours of 9:30 am and 11:00 am, Monday, Wegnesday, and Friday), and have provided 3 certified copies of each of the following: passport, travel visa's, airline ticket, as well as the Certified results of a current urine test, aids test, stool sample, and 3 pcs, 2x2 photograph on white background, finger printed and Certified True by a Judge, Police Officer, Medical Doctor, or a Senior Embassy official. All documents must be sealed in a large white manila envelope, complete with the Embassy Seal officially affixed to BOTH sides of the envelope, and initialed by Embassy staff. The fee for evacuation is $450.00. ONLY US dollars will be accepted. NO cheques or credit cards will be honoured. We also advise all Evacuation Applicants to wear a large Canadian Flag sewn to both sides of their shirts in order to more readily identify them. They can be purchased at Ahhmed's Sign Emporium and Gun Shop, located at 2541 Clickbang Avenue, Beruit, right beside Bomb-belts-R us. CHINA: Eighty-two Chinese in Lebanon had been evacuated to Syria earlier this week, along with two-thirds of Lebanon's wealth. CROATIA: Fifty-seven Croats were evacuated from Lebanon and arrived home on Wednesday. All flew aboard a Croatia Airlines charter flight via Damascus. A number of Croats are still in Lebanon and are trying to leave. FRANCE: There are roughly 17,000 French citizens resident in Lebanon and around 4,000-6,000 French people staying there short-term. France formally surrendered to Israel at 6:14 this morning. INDIA: India said four navy ships were on the way ready to evacuate up to 12,000 citizens. Officials said they had evacuated 49 nationals by bus across the border to Syria. IRELAND: Ireland has said 115 people have so far been evacuated from Lebanon, taken by pail to Syria, then flown to Dubai and home. Some 50 remaining will be evacuated on Thursday, once the bars close.. JAPAN: Japan was examining ways to evacuate 45 Japanese in Lebanon. MALAYSIA: Malaysia said it had evacuated 10 nationals, including four diplomats, from Beirut to Syria. The rest are standing on a beach waiting for a tsunami. NORWAY: Norway has evacuated 500 citizens so far, mainly by bus through Syria. Another 40 will travel by bus to Damascus on Wednesday. There are an estimated 100 Norwegians, mainly of Lebanese ethnicity, still in the south of the country. POLAND: Poland and Bulgaria hired buses to ferry their nationals and Czechs and Slovaks to Damascus, but can't find Lebanon. PHILIPPINES: The Philippines, with an estimated 34,000 nationals working in Lebanon, said it was considering sending a fleet of "banka's" (small two person fishing boats), but late Tuesday afternoon, the fleet was lost in high seas somewhere off the coast of Batangas Group of Islands. A spokesman from the Department of Foriegn Affairs said that a congressional committee has been set up to study the possibility of air-dropping a few thousand floaties and water wings in Lebanon, with instructions on how to follow the currents to Cyprus. In other news, the drop in overseas remittances from OFW's in Lebanon, since the beginning of the war, has caused the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) to crash. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was reached for comment last night as she left Bubba's Booze Barn, and had this to say..."hath anybuddy seen my underwear? I wuzzzzz sure I had them on my head when I leffff the paaaaalath." RUSSIA: Russia sent Emergencies Ministry aircraft to pick up its evacuees. SPAIN: A Spanish air force Boeing 707 flew 113 people out of Damascus and more than 152 were being transported from Amman. SWEDEN: Sweden is collecting 1,500 people early on Wednesday. A ferry boat has dropped off 188 Swedish citizens at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin on Wednesday. THAILAND: Thailand said 37 citizens in Lebanon would be evacuated through Damascus. UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has chartered a Cypriot ferry, the Serenade, which can carry 600 people, to evacuate staff and families from Lebanon. UNITED STATES: More than 2,400 Americans are to be evacuated by air and sea on Wednesday out of a total of 8,000 to be brought out.
Just in from CNN...
by Stealth453 10 Replies latest jw friends
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Wasanelder Once
Very informative. Looks like Lebanon is the place to leave at the moment. I wonder how long before the U.N. sends in troops to deal with this. I think the U.S. knew about this little attack before it happened so they could formulate a response. Israel and the U.S. are pretty tight. There seems to always be something going on in the background with these two nations.
Thanks for the info, wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
...and thanks for sticking around and not evacuating from the JWD.
W.Once
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free2beme
So, do they think this could reach a level of people being kidnapped and that is why they are leaving or do they worry that Isreal may nuke?
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Stealth453
Your welcome...and THANK YOU for your support.
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collegegirl21
Ok, so I'm not so informed right now with working quite a bit of hours... can someone explain to me what is going on in English and who's on who's side please? Thanks!
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Stealth453
Quite simple...
Israel is bombing the stuffings out of Lebanon because a few Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by members of Hezbollah. Almost every nation in the world that have citizens in Lebanon are trying to evacuate them by whatever means available. I have Canadian friends in Lebanon right now, and the messages that I am receiving from them, paint a pretty horrific picture.
I wish them, and all Lebanese as well as non-Lebanese folks overthere, safety.
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collegegirl21
What is happening to the Austrailian people and the U.S people? Where are we sending people to?
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Stealth453
Most are being bused out through Syria or by boat to Cyprus.
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jwsons
Yes, everything in order. Very well-planning. First, The Syrian army should leave the country or U.N. soldiers will come. And now Israel attack. That's all the story. Only innocents suffering.
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