One flight – is that a repatriation?
Minister Tom Berendsen (CDA, Foreign Affairs) said on Tuesday afternoon in the House of Representatives that KLM had flown one plane to Muscat, the capital of Oman, which would take Dutch people back to Amsterdam in the evening. It turned out to be a flight on which KLM wanted to get its stranded staff (around eighty people) from Oman. The airline had made the remaining seats in the aircraft available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A ministry spokesperson was available on Tuesday afternoon NRC does not say how many stranded Dutch people will get a seat on the plane – and how it is determined who is allowed on board. The spokesperson can “imagine” that “people are asked whether they can or want to go on that flight.”
Berendsen immediately said that one flight is not a solution for the “thousands of travelers stranded in the region.” But he added that “all possibilities” are being prepared. Also “possible repatriation in addition to all options via commercial flights.”
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‘Taking scenarios into account’
Since the American-Israeli bombing of Iran and Iran’s counter-attacks on targets in neighboring countries, European capitals have not only had to deal with questions about compliance with international law and possible military support. Of a more practical nature are questions about how many of its own citizens are currently in the Middle East and whether they are safe. And once that is clear: how the people who want to leave can be removed from that area as quickly as possible – while the airspace above many places is closed.
You can get one until Friday ‘Crisis Contact Form’ to fill in. This applies to Dutch people stranded (or living there) in Iran, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia. “If we know which people are involved, we can provide them with the best possible information,” says the Foreign Affairs spokesperson. For example, information about evacuations. “We take all scenarios into account.”
Stranded travelers in the region: it is estimated that there are already several thousand, says Frank Radstake, director of the ANVR, the trade organization for travel companies. Travel organization Tui has about 300 people in the Middle East, most of them in Dubai. Corendon estimates that they have “several dozen” stranded travelers in the region. The travel organizations keep their customers informed of developments, but the provision of information is sparse.
‘As soon as safety allows’
The airspace above the UAE, where most Dutch travelers stay, is temporarily and partially closed, the Emirates’ aviation authority said. “The situation changes from minute to minute,” says Corendon’s spokesperson. On Tuesday afternoon, deputy director of the Calamities Fund Foundation, Karin Beckers, said that an Emirates flight would fly from Dubai to Schiphol on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. The airline then had on X already announced that they would not operate regular flights to and from Dubai until midnight on Thursday. There would be some cargo flights and repatriation on Tuesday and Wednesday – in principle only for their own customers.
According to ANVR director Frank Radstake, the Netherlands is ready to bring back stranded Dutch people from the Middle East as soon as safety allows. “That is a political decision, and it will probably not be long before it is taken.” The airspace above Oman is open, although KLM does not operate regular flights there. There is a bus from Dubai to Muscat – a six hour drive. Travel organization Tui does not recommend that route. “We do not want customers to run unnecessary risks,” says the spokesperson.
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Karin Beckers of the Disaster Fund qualifies the extent to which the Netherlands is ready for repatriation. “We have an idea of what should happen when the airspace opens.” She warns that even then it will not be easy to get the stranded travelers home. “That is a matter of capacity. Are there aircraft and can they land and take off? It is not only Dutch people who are stranded in the Middle East. There are tens of thousands of British people.”
Other countries
Several EU member states have now appealed for help from the EU’s disaster team, the Civil Protection Mechanism. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said this on Tuesday evening announced.
Belgium and Luxembourg use military equipment to evacuate their citizens. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engages) said this on Tuesday in the Belgian federal parliament. It will take “a few more days” before the planes take off. “I understand the annoyance and impatience of our compatriots, but the situation is particularly complex,” Prévot said, according to The Standard. “Transport to the affected airports must be safe, the airspace must be safe.”
Transport to the affected airports must be safe, the airspace must be safe
Repatriation is also being discussed in other European countries. In Germany, Foreign Minister Johann Wadepuhl (CDU) said that he wants to fly back “children and the sick” from the region, but that he sees no chance for the time being to evacuate the estimated several tens of thousands of Germans from the region.
And the British government says it has received messages from more than 100,000 compatriots that they are stranded in the Middle East and says it will in any case organize a repatriation flight from Oman.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Tuesday that France is taking measures to ensure the safe return of “400,000 French people” in the Persian Gulf region. The first two planes are now expected to be on their way to Paris.
