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An American student has expressed that the State Department failed to assist him in returning home amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
“The situation was absolutely chaotic,” Ethan Hill, a student at Georgetown University, shared in an interview.
Hill was en route to Armenia for a school-related spring break trip when he experienced an unexpected delay. His layover in Doha, Qatar, was initially scheduled to last three hours, but due to his flight being overbooked, he found himself stranded for an additional day. It was during this time that the conflict erupted.
“I remained there for about three to five days,” Hill explained. “I reached out to the embassy but received no assistance. In the end, it was Georgetown and the University in Qatar who facilitated my evacuation and ensured my safe return.”
Hill, who was traveling to Armenia for an educational spring break, said he had a layover in Doha, Qatar, which was supposed to be a three-hour layover. The airline overbooked his flight to Armenia, leaving him there for an extra day. The following day the attacks began.
“I was there for maybe three to five days and contacted the embassy and got no help. And eventually, I was evacuated by Georgetown and the University in Qatar. And they’re the ones who got me out.”
Asked about how the lack of communication with the State Department, Hill said they didn’t pick up the phone despite several phone calls. He noted the person who was coordinating the trip to Armenia was in contact with the agency.
“We were told that we have nothing to worry about,” said Hill. “They encourage us to go on this trip and everything’s going to be fine.” So that was the first thing. The next thing is while we were there, the girl I was with called the embassy and said, ‘Hey, here’s who we are. We’re staying. Here’s where we’re staying. What can you do?’ And the response was we can’t do anything. The airspace is closed to just stay and shelter in place. We can’t help you.”
“I called a few days later … they didn’t even pick up the line, and there was no option for me to leave a voicemail. So just to summarize that, the State Department encouraged us to go to a country that borders Iran. They knew that this was a possibility and still encouraged us to go. And then while we were there, had no plans to extradite us or any of the other American citizens in the region.”
The State Department said Saturday that 28,000 Americans have returned home from the region since the strikes. Additionally, the Department of State has completed over a dozen charter flights and has safely evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said Americans in the region were given prior warnings to evacuate.