STORY: :: Australian citizens land in Cyprus after being evacuated from Lebanon
:: October 5, 2024
:: Larnaca, Cyprus
“I feel I feel very sad leaving my country, but I’m very happy to start a new life in Sydney.”
(Journalist asking “Were you in any danger”)
“Definitely. I was in the south. I lost my house, my kids lost their rooms, our clothes. But it’s fine, life goes on. I wish the best for Lebanon.”
(Journalist asking: Where are you going to be staying in Australia?)
“In Australia I have some relatives.”
(Journalist asking: Will you ever go back in Lebanon?)
“Never, ever. I was traumatized. My kids were traumatized as well. It’s not a safe country. I won’t be back.”
:: Fiona Mckergow, Australian High Commissioner to Cyprus
“I don’t have numbers for the next flight, but we’ve had 229 citizens come through. Australian. They’ll all be going on to Australia. As I said, they’re exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here, but heartbroken because they’ve left family behind.
(Journalist asking: But it’s possible that these are the last flights out of Beirut for Australia.)
“I don’t anticipate them to be the last.”
Greeted by several officials, including the Australian high commissioner to Cyprus, Fiona McKergow, evacuees were offered apples and water, before being boarded onto a bus.
Speaking to the press, one woman detailed having to flee after her home was destroyed by bombing. She said she never intends to return to Lebanon.
Lebanon’s government says more than 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the last year, including 127 children. Most of the casualties have come in the past two weeks.
