How Canada has responded to events abroad that put Canadians at risk in recent years - Action News
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How Canada has responded to events abroad that put Canadians at risk in recent years

Hundreds of Canadians and permanent residents of Canada are inside the borders of Sudan and want help escaping as fighting continues, putting pressure on Ottawa to make that happen.

Sudan latest crisis Ottawa has responded to with citizens, residents facing sudden danger elsewhere

A burned-out vehicle in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
A burned-out vehicle is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Wednesday. Fighting between rival military and paramilitary forces in Sudan has for days left civilians trapped in their homes. (El-Tayeb Siddig/Reuters)

Fighting between rival military and paramilitary forces in Sudan has for days left civilians trapped in their homesas the violent power struggle between the two sides continues to unfold.

Hundreds of Canadians and permanent residents of Canada are inside the country's borders and want help getting out, putting pressure on Ottawa to make that happen.

As of Wednesday, Canada plans to deploy roughly 200troops to help co-ordinate the evacuation of civilians from the country, according to Defence Minister Anita Anand. The federal governmenthas already helped someCanadians leave.

The situation in Sudan is just the latest occasion in which Canada's government has found itself having to figure out how to get large numbers of people out of dangerfar from Canada's own borders.

2021: The fall of the Afghan government

When the United States left Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban quickly swept to power.

That left many people in Afghanistan scrambling to fleetheresulting chaos and the regime change in Kabul.

Taliban fighters on patrol, days after the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
An August 2021 file photo shows Taliban fighters on patrol in Kabul soon after the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan. (Rahmat Gul/The Associated Press)

The emergency situation erupted shortly after the start of a federal election campaign in Canada. That didn't diminish the pressure on the governmentto get a lot of people out.

A series of rescue flights followed.

The Canadian governmentsaid it helped get more than 3,700 people exit the country before ending its airlift effort later that month acknowledgingthat some citizens, permanent residents and their families, as well aspeoplehoping to seekrefuge in Canada, remainedin Afghanistan.

Ottawa faced sharp criticism for not being able to get more people out.

Ottawa saysit has settled more than 30,000 Afghans since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Its stated goal is to bring in at least 40,000 Afghans.

2020: Early glimpse of COVIDchallenges

Just over three years ago, some Canadians were gettingan early glimpse of the pandemic that would upend life around the globe specifically those who were in a part of China where a strict lockdownhad been imposed.

Officials in protective clothing are seen outside a plane at Vancouver International Airport, a few weeks before the pandemic was declared.
Officials in protective clothing are seen outside a plane at Vancouver International Airport in February 2020, after a charter flight had brought home citizens of Canada and the United States from China a few weeks before the WHO declared a global pandemic. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

The federal government charted a flightto bringhome scores of stranded Canadians and permanent residents from China in February 2020. When those people landed back home, they went into quarantine for two weeks.

Many more repatriation flights would follow, in variousparts of the world, in the months to come.

Days after the World Health Organizationdeclared a global pandemic in March of 2020,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised Canadiansabroad it was "time to come home."

Canada would help fly home more than 60,000 people between February and Julyof 2020, according to government data.

2011: ExitingEgypt

In late January 2011, there were hundredsof people with ties to Canada who wanted to leave Egypt andquickly amid unrest and ongoing anti-government protests.

A group of Canadian tourists awaiting a flight out of Egypt at Cairo's international airport in January 2011.
Canadian tourists wait for a flight out of Cairo's international airport on Jan. 31, 2011. (Victoria Hazou/The Associated Press)

Canada's federal government was facing calls to get people out. It chartered a series of flights out of Cairo.

Lawrence Cannon, who was then Canada's foreign affairs minister, said Ottawa had been "extremely forceful" in its efforts to get people outand in calling for Egyptto bring forward a "transition to democratic reform."

The protests would last 18 days andpromptEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power.

2006: Evacuation effort in Lebanon

In July 2006, a warinvolving Israel and Hezbollahbroke out, promptinga lot of people in Lebanonto want to flee the danger.

An unidentified man waves from a bus after landing in Ottawa.
An unidentified man waves from a bus as he and a group of evacuees leaves Ottawa airport after they fled Lebanon and arrived in Ottawa in July 2006. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)

That included many Canadians and Ottawa would ultimately rescue nearly 15,000 people.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper travelled overseas and flew backwith agroup of people fleeing the conflict.

The warlasted 34 daysandended the following month.

With files from the CBC's Raffy Boudjikanian