FCO releases 2008-09 incident figures

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Title – FCO releases 2008-09 incident figures
Source – FCO
Date – 25th August 2009

These statistics must be taken in the context that they are purely those incidents which the FCO have been made aware of (needless to say ‘incidents’ for which British citizens must contact the embassy such as loss of passport are accurate and representative) and do not include those ‘incidents’ which are not reported and we must assume are significantly higher.

What we can assume however is that as a percentage these figures are representative and as such the most ‘dangerous’ countries highlighted are accurate.

The number of ‘assists’ that FCO staff deal with is staggering and certainly reflects the excellent work and the significant workload that the FCO puts in to protecting British citizens and assisting them when they are abroad. 2.1 million consular enquiries in a year is a significant number.

Travellers must however remember that the British embassy staff are limited in the assistance they can offer and being a UK citizen is not a ‘get out of jail free card’. You are always subject to the laws of the country you are visiting and must have enough funds to support yourself, pay any expenses you incur and get home.

The FCO is through initiatives such as the ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign, trying to get travellers to plan more effectively and prepare better for foreign travel to reduce the number getting into difficulty.

Effective preparation is important for any type of travel, however it is fair to say that people taking a short holiday to Spain who encounter an ‘incident’ (5430 excluding lost/stolen passports sought consular assistance in Spain in the year ending March 2009) should find it easier to deal with than those travelling to Mongolia where any form of assistance is limited. The traveller to Mongolia must take as much care as possible to be self sufficient and avoid any ‘incident’ from taking place; the complication of visiting such a remote country can make even normally innocuous ‘incidents’ very serious.

Preparing for a 2 week trip to Greece is relatively straight forward and advice from the FCO ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign should be sufficient. Those planning travel to more remote, developing countries over an extended period should seek more specific and detailed advice such as our Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop.

I have picked some of the more ‘interesting’ statistics from this report (the full report is available on the link at the top of this page). The report reflects the year ending March 2009:

· Britons were most likely to be arrested in UAE (294), followed by Thailand (202) and the USA (1534).
· One in seven of all arrests of Britons worldwide were for drug related offences. 991 people were arrested for drug offences.
· 19 British nationals are currently facing capital charges (those which carry the death penalty) worldwide.
· Britons were most likely to be hospitalised in Thailand followed by Greece, Egypt and India. Many of these hospitalisations were the result of alcohol related incidents and moped/motorbike accidents.
· 29,774 passports were lost or stolen worldwide. 3228 in USA, 2446 in Australia, 826 in China, 871 in South Africa
· 270 rapes & sexual Assaults were reported worldwide

If we consider those unreported incidents, these numbers are very significant. These situations are made much worse when you are stuck a very long way away from home, family, friends and support. What may be ‘relatively’ insignificant at home is magnified many times when you are stuck in a country where everything is very different, standards vary and often language barriers mean that you will not understand what is happening.

We help independent travellers understand and prepare for every instance to reduce the number and seriousness of ‘incidents’ which happen and to know what to do if they do.

Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) is a travel partner of the FCO Know Before You Go Campaign.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Independent Travel Safety & Cultural Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.

Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.