Relief and fear as people in Lebanon manage to flee to London

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Nicole Al Baba had mixed feelings as she waited to meet her cousin and grandmother who were arriving at London's Heathrow Airport from Beirut on Tuesday morning.

She was relieved that they will be coming home safely, but also devastated by the escalating situation in Lebanon, where Israel has mounted an offensive against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.

“I’m feeling anxious and scared. We’re worried about our friends, we’re worried about our family,” she said. Despite living in the UK “we still have to watch our country get destroyed”, she added.

Thousands are scrambling to leave Lebanon, with ticket prices soaring after many airlines cancelled flights. Middle East Airlines, the Lebanese carrier, is among the few airlines still operating from Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The UK government secured places for 40 British nationals on the same Middle East Airlines flight as Ms Al Baba’s family, as it began evacuations out of Lebanon on Sunday. The UK will charter a commercial flight from Beirut to Birmingham on Wednesday, charging passengers £350 each ($465).

Further evacuations “may not be guaranteed”, said Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “The situation in Lebanon is volatile and has potential to deteriorate quickly. The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority,” he said.

“That’s why the UK government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed”

Ms Al Baba said her family had booked their own tickets, and that they had not heard from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office about these evacuations before yesterday, when they were offered a space on the flight to Birmingham.

“We only received the evacuation notice yesterday from the government, I believe the flight is tomorrow. So, there’s still people panicking and doing whatever they can do to get those Middle East Airlines flights,” she said.

Minutes after the Beirut plane had landed, Ms El Baba couldn’t wait to hug her grandmother, whom she calls “Nan”.

“I’m shaking just thinking about it. I’m so excited and just happy that she’s finally here and we can keep her safe,” she said.

Those critical of the UKs evacuation efforts point to the last Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, when more than 4,000 British nationals and dual nationals were evacuated on warships.

Solange, a London-based interpreter was waiting – clutching a Lebanese flag – for her daughter and grandmother to arrive. She compared this situation with the 2006 evacuation. “It was very well planned. There was a lot of compassion from the British government. On arrival to Cyprus, I can never forget, British soldiers were unpacking brand-new phones for people to call their families,” she said.

“Compared to today, it just feels like the British government is for the war.”

The UK government advice to “Leave Lebanon Now”, Solange said, was misplaced. “I don’t think they know where the airport is. People are dodging rockets on the way to leave Lebanon, as advised,” she said.

Also waiting at arrivals was Ammar, a Syrian refugee in the UK, who was waiting for his wife and two children.

His family, who lived in Lebanon as refugees, had just received their visas to come to the UK and be reunited with him, but he had just a few weeks to bring them here once the visa was issued.

This should have been a happy moment for Ammar, who came dressed in a suit, carrying a large bouquet of roses and gifts for the children.

But instead, it was tinged with sadness in the realisation that he and his wife were now displaced for a second time. “Just like it happened in Syria, it was destroyed and we fled. Now it is happening to the Lebanese people as well,” he said.

The overnight journey to the airport from the Bekaa valley, where his wife and children lived, had brought them close to Israeli targets. Ammar said he did not sleep all night, repeatedly texting them to make sure they were safe.

“They left at night, it was bombing and missiles and air strikes. It was dangerous, but we were forced to move, because the time on the visa was short and the dangers are growing. The airport could close at any minute.

The reunions were emotional. Ammar broke down in tears and couldn’t let go of his wife and children when they arrived.

Solange’s daughter Lara told The National she’d had to “mentally convince herself” to go to the airport, despite risks of being hit by a missile there or on the way. “What’s going on in Lebanon isn’t something people in the UK should be quiet about,” she said.

“This is the first time that I’ve left Lebanon, and people said goodbye to me in a way that they shouldn’t say goodbye to me. Like they might not see me ever again,” she said.

Lara was too young to remember being evacuated from Lebanon as a baby in 2006, but she warned that “history was repeating itself”.

Khaled Kallas, a Syrian living in Lebanon, came to London to see his daughter, and will go on to see his son in Canada, where he has citizenship. The past few days had been extremely difficult, he said, owing to the sounds of shelling and low-flying planes. Though they lived five kilometres from Beirut, their house shook last Friday when the Israeli military targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters, killing the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“We are here now, so thank God. But the people in Lebanon are not safe. May God help them,” he said.

Mr Kallas hopes he can return to Lebanon next month.

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