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| Keeping Expatriates Safe |
| A Systematic Approach |
by EDWARD L. LEE, II, Global Advisor |
| THE LEE GROUP
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edwardllee@aol.com
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A U.S. expatriate assigned to Mexico City is shot and killed after he imprudently hails a taxi in the Mexican capital—in an environment in which 20% of the city’s taxis have been stolen by criminals. A French engineer and his wife arrive at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro and are approached by a man who offers them an inexpensive ride into town without waiting in long lines. After leaving the airport in the "pirate" taxi the driver stops suddenly when a confederate jumps into the taxi and pulls a handgun on the engineer and wife. Not thinking, the couple resists the robbery resulting in the wife being shot and killed. The engineer instinctively jumps from the moving vehicle, and sustains a broken leg. Had the two simply used authorized airport taxis the tragedy could have been avoided. An automotive engineer, his wife and two young children stabbed to death in China during an interrupted burglary of the second floor of their home—an avoidable tragedy had their home been properly safeguarded. An expatriate arrives in Madrid and while looking for her checked luggage on the carousel, realizes her briefcase and laptop have been stolen. An engineer working on an infrastructure project in a rural area of a Latin American country is kidnapped. His abductors demand a ransom payment of $1 million.
Unfortunately, each of the above tragedies could have been prevented or avoided had the travelers been provided pre-departure security awareness training—guidance than can be imparted in only a few hours. Even more unfortunate is the fact that less than 30% of all multinational and global companies that send expatriates abroad make such training available to them and their family members.
Many multinational companies fail to realize that they have a legal responsibility to provide systematic expatriate security support (office/plant, residential, vehicular and family) in an increasingly violent and unpredictable world where risks to expatriates can often be extraordinary, particularly in developing countries where there is no 911, no prompt medical infrastructure, no support system, crisis-level crime and a multitude of other risks (political violence, bombings, natural disasters, etc.).
Even in developed countries, we are seeing unprecedented levels of crime against foreigners, who because of their dress, mannerisms, appearance and demeanor convey the notion that they are either "wealthy" or "well-off." That being said, any crime is one that potentially can derail a short-term or long-term assignment abroad. One plant manager in a Latin American country, after having been injured in an armed carjacking, simply said, "I don’t need this"…and asked to be brought home. In another case, a major telecommunications company sent an expatriate to Brazil. Weeks after his arrival, the expat and his family were terrorized by gunmen in a home invasion of their apartment. The expat’s employer had provided no professional security advice on how to select and safeguard a resident in a high-risk country.
Effective risk management (against such calamities as violent crime, larceny, political unrest, health problems, ransom kidnapping, hotel fires, auto mobile accidents, etc.) is dependent on effective decision making—making good choices. Good decisions are choices made from a foundation of both awareness and understanding of the nature of risk and its potential impact on employers who send expatriates abroad.
Some examples. A petroleum engineer is assigned to work on a project in a developing country. His/her employer does not require that a pre-departure medical examination is conducted or does the engineer take it upon himself or herself to have the medical exam done. The engineer subsequently goes abroad with an undiagnosed medical condition only to shortly thereafter have a massive heart attack, requiring a medical evacuation costing $125,000. Another expatriate, having been given no advice on international airline choices by his employer, unknowingly selects an air carrier with a history of air safety accidents. The end result is that the airliner on which the expatriate is traveling crashes due to pilot negligence or faulty maintenance, resulting in a wrongful death claim by the expatriate’s survivors. In both of these cases, the results could have been avoided through better choices: awareness and understanding of the risk.
Looking back on my 25 years of experience in protecting diplomats and expatriates abroad, we have learned that simply establishing a systematic corporate international travel security program can reduce the majority of criminal threats confronting global companies. Such a program is comprised of five elements:
1. Having "policies and procedures" that mandate that expatriates and their family members be afforded country-specific security awareness training, be offered guidance on selecting safe airlines; be provided on-site security support (i.e., help in selecting and securing a residence; selecting safe school; selecting an automobile that will reduce the risk of auto theft or armed carjacking; assistance in obtaining security alarms, security guards or residential deterrents; and how to get handle a variety of emergencies and crises).
2. "Threat information" on the country and where to get it. While there are a multitude of electronic and printed resources available to expatriates and their employers, we generally suggest that all expatriates be provided international security information through the employer’s intranet on how to stay safe during their foreign assignment as well as timely information on political developments and security risks. Ideally, this their should be protocols built into the intranet in such a way that when an expatriate accesses a particular advisory, report, warning or corporate policy affecting their security, that a "paper-trail" be established that the file had been accessed and presumed read, thus reducing the employer’s legal liability. On the other hand, not providing travelers threat information on foreseeable calamities could well be viewed as negligent. In one case, failure to tell a an African-American of the risk of hate crimes in certain countries, resulted in the employee being assaulted by "skinheads."
3. "Travel assistance programs" which involves providing expatriates and their family members access to reputable and professional international medical support and evacuation services, particularly considering that home-based PPOs and HMOs are of little value internationally where clinics, hospitals and air ambulances want payment in advance. In one case, an expatriate was struck by a speeding car in Bangkok (because motorists drive on the "left," and the employee looked the "wrong" way before crossing a street) cost his company over $150,000 because the employer did not provide international medical coverage.
4. "Crisis management planning" whereby proactive managers at both headquarters and at the subsidiary level have "on-the-shelf" crisis management plans designed to quickly enable the company to handle such crises as violent crime; death; natural disasters; case of kidnapping, abduction and disappearance; political unrest; terrorism; labor disputes; arrest of an expatriate; automobile accidents involving personal injury/death where an expatriate is the driver; extortion; to name but a few;
5. "Crisis response/resolution," which encompasses having trained and experienced in-house or on-retainer professionals who can help the employer promptly resolve an international crisis (i.e., natural disaster, kidnapping, expatriate disappearance, arrest, labor strike, home invasion, carjacking, political unrest, etc.).
If a multinational company does not have a comprehensive expatriate security program for its expatriates similar to the one described above, the company may be not only exposing itself to considerable legal liability, but permitting security vulnerabilities to exist may eventually result in either an expatriate wanting to return home (a result that can cost some companies hundreds of thousands of dollars), or a lawsuit, or both.
In reacting to some of the issues raised in this article, some corporate managers responsible for expatriate assignments might well say "...but we have not had any problems, why spend money unnecessarily." Our response to such statements is that some of the employers in the introductory paragraph of this article said the very same thing. They obviously did not fully understand risk management. Working abroad often brings with it a risk-rich environment, where both employers and expatriates must choose wisely when responding to international risks. Failure to do so and to reduce security vulnerabilities, particularly in developing countries, can result in losses that may be irreversible. On the other hand, a company that is known to understand international risks and have a systematic expatriate security program in place will be a company which is respected by its employees due to the company’s genuine commitment to their safety while abroad.
Edward L. Lee, II, BS, MS, CPP, is managing director of The Lee Group, 545 Riverine #206, Traverse City, MI. 49684. A former director of security at the US State Department, Mr. Lee resided in developing countries for 18 years. Since 1986, he has helped global companies effectively protect their expatriates abroad through pre-departure security awareness training and on-site international security support. His publication, A Personal Safety Guide for International Travelers, is now being used by over 600 multinational companies. He is also editor of The Latin American Advisor and The Global Weekly Advisor, two weekly risk management newsletters. |
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| June 2001 |
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Edwin Cohen
Publisher & Editor
GLOBAL HR NEWS
www.globalhrnews.com
phone: +1.619.297.5700
email: news@globalhrnews.com |
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