This is curious, and it also kind of ties in with my Ross Perot’s Rescue of EDS Employees In Iran post. If you could afford it, would you pay for the services of the government to rescue a loved one, or would you seek out the services of private industry to rescue a loved one? Because if countries like France put the cost of rescue on the individual that is taken hostage, then you would think it would be alright for that individual to choose either a private option that is cheaper or better than a state sponsored option for rescue.
Now of course there is always the K and R industry and their approach to getting hostages released. But for the impossible cases, where folks are political pawns or the hostage takers have no intention of negotiating, what do you do? Or how about cases where governments refuse to do a rescue because it is politically sensitive? There are lots of cases where the standard hostage negotiation tactic just does not work in the international realm, and sometimes the only chance of survival for that hostage, is rescue. One that could be potentially violent, or one that could be sneaky and non-violent. Either way, what are the options other than letting those folks just die?
A great example of this, is the execution of a French hostage recently by Al Qaeda. What if the family and friends of this hostage wanted to contract the services of lets say Xe or some similar company for the rescue of their loved one? Or even contract the services of another country’s army for a rescue? All because they either did not want to pay France for a rescue operation, or they thought that Xe or another country would be a better option–both for price and for execution? It is an interesting thought to ponder, and especially if France wants to go down this path of forcing it’s citizens to pay for rescues. –Matt
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French tourists may be billed if high-risk trips go wrong
Lizzy Davies
5 July 2010
French tourists who run into trouble after taking unnecessary risks overseas could have to pay for their rescue and repatriation under legislation debated today by MPs in Paris.
The proposed law, put forward by a government tired of having to foot the bill, would enable the state to demand reimbursement for “all or part of the costs … of foreign rescue operations” if it deems that travellers had ventured knowingly and without “legitimate motive” into risky territory.
According to the foreign ministry, the bill is an attempt to encourage a “culture of responsibility” among French travellers at a time of frequent kidnappings, hijackings and civil instability across the world. The ministry hopes that the prospect of being saddled with paying costs such as emergency air fares home will make people think twice about venturing into territory classified as dangerous. There is no question of ransoms being included in the cost, unsurprisingly, as France insists it never pays them.