INDEPTH: A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Safety and security overseas
CBC News Online | February 13, 2004
Safety and security are always important issues when people travel, whether as tourists, for business or as part of the international assistance community.
Canada's Foreign Affairs Department, the U.S. State Department and other governments regularly post information and warnings about various countries on their websites. These governments often have a system of e-mail alerts, either to notify citizens living in a certain country of potential problems there or to keep those interested in a country up to date on developments.
People who go overseas as aid workers, journalists or diplomats often receive special training on how to deal with potential perils.
For example, Foreign Affairs, which places interns overseas with government and non-governmental organizations through its Youth Employment Strategy (YES), has responsibility for the personal security of the participants.
Those interns who may be searching out their own placements are also responsible for doing research on those countries where they may want to work; placements in countries considered too dangerous are not approved. Foreign Affairs also works closely with organizations that may be hiring or sponsoring the interns to insure their safety.
In rare circumstances, Foreign Affairs will approve a placement in a country that is considered dangerous if the intern and the sponsoring organization sign a waiver accepting the risks involved.
In case of major problems, Foreign Affairs is responsible for helping all Canadians, including the interns placed through the YES program, to be evacuated from the country.
Foreign Affairs also notes on its website the sponsoring or placing organization should be prepared to help the intern leave the country as soon as a warning is issued, long before organized evacuation may be necessary.
In addition, most of the major non-governmental organizations have procedures to ensure the safety of their volunteers and staff.
Before leaving:
Foreign Affairs recommends Canadians use a checklist before leaving the country whether as a tourist, for business or as an aid worker.
Passport
Have a valid and up-to-date passport.
Renew your passport six months before leaving on a major trip, especially because some countries will not issue a visa to an individual whose passport will expire within six months.
Carry a photocopy of the passport identification page separate from your passport and leave a copy with a relative at home.
Visas
Verify whether or not the country of destination requires a visa.
Get the correct type of visa, which may be different for tourists, aid workers and business travellers.
Travel and medical insurance
Do not leave Canada without as much travel and supplementary medical insurance as you can afford.
Vaccinations
Get all vaccinations required for foreign travel, especially to remote locations.
Itinerary
Plan your itinerary as much as possible and leave a copy with a friend or relative.
Money
Foreign Affairs recommends that any traveller should assume a trip or stay overseas will be more expensive than expected.
Research
Research the destination through government websites and other reliable sources.
Registration with Foreign Affairs
The Department of Foreign Affairs recommends that Canadians travelling, living or working abroad register with the department. Registration can now be done online on the Consular Affairs website at the Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) page.
Foreign Affairs recommends that once a Canadian arrives at their destination, they should confirm the location of Canadian embassies and consulates and, even if they have registered online, contact the legation to activate their online registration.
In case of trouble or requests for assistance
The Consular Affairs Bureau says it has assisted Canadians over the years with a wide variety of trouble overseas including:
- Accidents.
- Natural disasters.
- Civil disorder.
- Arrests.
- Child abductions or custody issues.
- Stolen or lost travel documents.
- Deaths.
- Missing persons.
- Adoption.
- Birth registration.
- Transportation or other accidents.
Disaster planning
The Canadian government is constantly updating plans and contingencies to deal with both natural disasters and civil disorder. The plans are usually made in consultation with allied nations such as Great Britain, Australia and the United States. Foreign Affairs often appoints "consular wardens" in each section of a country where there are Canadians. The wardens then act to co-ordinate getting assistance and advice to Canadians and act as intermediaries with local and Canadian officials.
Charity scams
The Foreign Affairs website warns the business community of a number of scams that have victimized Canadians. One scam outlined involves someone who claims to want to make a donation to an aid or other charitable organization and asks for bank account information to make the donation. The scam artist may then ask for "help" in converting the donation to dollars or use the information to loot the account.
Hostage-taking, hijacking and kidnapping
Foreign Affairs warns travellers who may be going to areas where there is a potential for hijacking, hostage-taking or kidnapping to carefully read and monitor warnings on that specific country. Then, according to the Foreign Affairs website: "In the event that a Canadian is involved in such an incident, Canadian consular officials will work closely with local authorities to obtain an early and safe release. As well, consular officials will maintain contact with family members to ensure that they are fully informed of all developments."
Safety and security
Reporter: Mellissa Fung | From Sunday Report, February 15, 2004
Canadian aid workers are facing new dangers in foreign lands. Some of the Canadians who are making a world of difference say the world has changed in recent years. Delivering aid isn't as safe as it used to be.
East Timor, north Sudan, central Liberia. Some of the most dangerous places in the world. And while there, Lloyd Cederstrand has seen more death, more suffering than most people have in a lifetime.
"You always have to be evacuated by plane from these locations," Cederstrand says.
He is a field co-ordinator for "Doctors Without Borders" and over the last several years he says that field has become a very dangerous place.
"I think it started with Somalia. And in Somalia one of the first things that occurred was the fact we had to start using armed guards," he says.
That's a reality for many aid agencies now. A marked difference from the days of the Cold War, when internal conflicts in developing countries were kept in place by the super-powers.
"We didn't realize the extent to which the Cold War imposed a discipline on conflicts in the Third World," says John Watson of CARE Canada. "And we were able to work, to do humanitarian operations within that framework. In a way that everyone understood."
More violent conflicts have led to more aid workers getting caught in the crossfire. According to a report by the United Nations, violence against aid workers has increased steadily. Between 1992 and 1998, 158 aid workers were killed on the job and 43 were victims of kidnappings. Between 1998 and 2001, 198 were killed and 240 kidnapped. And then there was this... Last August in Iraq a bomb ripped through the United Nations aid headquarters, killing 20 workers, including a senior official.
"The UN again was seen as an agency that was trying to stabilize post-Saddam Iraq occupied by the United States. For those who want to destabilize it, the UN was a natural target with its soft security," says Janice Stein of the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies.
In the last few years, military forces have become more involved in humanitarian-like work – handing out food, working in hospitals – blurring the line between the military and the aid agencies.
"Nothing can be worse for the humanitarian side than to have military forces actually engaging in pseudo-humanitarian work, giving out food, trying to help people for political reasons," Watson says.
Aid organizations have had to adapt quickly.
"We didn't have a need to have a corporate security officer or corporate security division and programs, 10, 15 years ago. So that's all become new because of the environment that we're now finding ourselves in," says Dirk Booy of World Vision Canada.
Aid workers, too, are finding that their own attitudes have changed.
"I am nervous with the changing environment and I think that is good. It's good to be nervous and I think if you are going into a context like Iraq or Afghanistan and you are not nervous, you maybe shouldn't be there," Cederstrand says.
He will head out again in the next few weeks: destination likely Iraq.
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CUSO tracks volunteers from:
AFS Interculture Canada
Canadian Crossroads International.
Canada World Youth.
Centre for International Studies and Cooperation
Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO).
CUSO.
Oxfam Québec.
SUCO - Solidarité Union Coopération
VSO Voluntary Services Overseas Canada
World University Service of Canada (WUSC).
CUSO Statement
Collectively, our organizations send or receive more than 3,000 volunteers each year and remain in touch with more than 60,000 returned volunteers. These figures include significant numbers of volunteers from the South, but by and large they represent Canadians so concerned about the disparity between life here and life in poorer countries that they are willing to give up weeks, months or even years of their time to improve the world. Through our network of members and volunteers, we reach into almost every community in Canada, coast to coast to coast. Ours is a real, concrete presence for Canada around the world, often the only Canadian presence outside of capitals, or even in some entire countries.
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